Effects of Environmental Stress on Weed/Crop Interactions

Abstract

All environmental factors that influence plant growth potentially can affect the ability of weeds and crops to exploit the environmental resources for which plants compete. Stressful levels of environmental factors such as temperature, light, and water and nutrient availability influence weed/crop interactions directly and also may interfere with (or enhance) weed control. Weed and crop species differing in photosynthetic pathway (C3 vs C4) are likely to respond differently to many of these factors. Long-term changes in the atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and other radiatively-active “greenhouse gases” may exert direct physiological and indirect climatic effects on weed/crop interactions and influence weed management strategies. This review focuses on the effects of temperature, light, soil nutrients, water stress, and CO2 concentration on weed/crop interactions with consideration of the potential impact of climate change.