BACKGROUND Mescal production is the main economic activity associated to agaves in Mexico, which involves 53 species mostly harvested from forests. The increasing mescal demand has influenced risk in both agave populations and mescal production, but other social and ecological factors also intervene. We hypothesized that the greater the risk the greater the complexity of management responses; o...

The effect of applying plant growth regulators on seed yield and quality of guinea grass (Panicum maximum) cv. Tanzania was studied in one crop on a sandy clay in Mexico. The treatments consisted of 3 growth regulators [ethephon, salicylic acid and a steroidal phytohormone (cidef-4)], 2 stages of application (before seed head emergence and at the beginning of anthesis) and 4 application concent...

Weed control through crop rotation has mainly been studied in a nonspatial context. However, weed seeds are often spread beyond the crop field by a variety of vectors. For weed control to be successful, weed management should thus be evaluated at the landscape level. In this paper we assess how seed dispersal affects the interactions between crop rotation and landscape heterogeneity schemes wit...

Willow encroachment into the naturally mixed landscape of vegetation types in the Upper St. Johns River Basin in Florida, USA, impacts upon biodiversity, aesthetic and recreational values. To control the extent of willows and their rate of expansion into other extant wetlands, spatial context is critical to decision making. Modelling the spread of willows requires spatially explicit data on occ...

Predicting the population dynamics of annual plants is a challenge due to their hidden seed banks in the field. However, such predictions are highly valuable for determining management strategies, specifically in agricultural landscapes. In agroecosystems, most weed seeds survive during unfavourable seasons and persist for several years in the seed bank. This causes difficulties in making accur...

Teosinte (Euchlaena mexicana L.) is a popular herbage crop in Nepal. Although farmers produce teosinte seeds, management for maximizing seed yield unknown. A study was undertaken to investigate order explore the production potential of yield. There were four different sowing dates (30 March, 30 April, May and June), rates (20, 40, 60 80 kgha?1) three cuttings (nil, once at 45 days after (DAS), ...

Seed viability monitoring, usually through a germination test, is a key aspect of genebank management; a low viability result triggers the regeneration of an accession in order to ensure that the genetic diversity of the accession is conserved and available for distribution. However, regular viability monitoring of large collections is costly in terms of seeds, labour and other resources. Geneb...

Soybean production in the north central United States has relied heavily on the use of foliar and seed applied insecticides to manage Aphis glycines (Hemiptera: Aphididae). An additional management strategy is the use soybean cultivars containing A. glycines resistance genes (Rag). Previous research has demonstrated that Rag cultivars are capable of preventing yield loss equivalent to the use o...

Native prairies of the Willamette Valley are considered among the rarest of Oregon’s ecosystems and are in critical need of conservation. Management strategies for increasing the abundance of native species are urgently needed, particularly those strategies that promote the regeneration of native species from seed. Fire may be an important factor in promoting regeneration of native species from...

Rapid changes in practices used to produce perennial grass seed crops in the U.S. Pacific Northwest region and shortened lengths of time that perennial grass seed fields remain in production have increased the need for additional rotation crops that are adapted to the poorly drained soils found in western Oregon. This research was conducted at three sites to determine ways to manage meadowfoam ...