Biodiversity Assessment of Weed Communities in Tube-Well Irrigated Wheat Fields in District Layyah, Punjab, Pakistan
Biodiversity Assessment of Weed Communities in Tube-Well Irrigated Wheat Fields in District Layyah, Punjab, Pakistan
Muhammad Shahid Hassan1, Nargis Naz2, Hassan Raza Javeed1*, Sabahat Zafar1, Laraib Kanwal1, Seerat Mariyum1, Areej Fatima1, Areeba Bashir1 and Muhammad Imran Atta3
ABSTRACT
Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a most imperative cereal and used staple food due to its source of indispensable nutrients such as proteins, vitamins, and minerals. Weeds compete with wheat plants for essential resources (nutrients, light, space, and gases) and ultimately reduce yield. The current study was conducted during 2021 – 2022 in the wheat fields of three tehsils of district Layyah to investigate the weed biodiversity. Weeds biodiversity data was recorded by a random quadrate sampling method using the quadrate of 5 m2. Phyto-sociological attributes such as density, frequency, cover, relative density, relative frequency, relative cover, and importance values index were measured for each field. The importance value index and Simpson’s biodiversity index were also calculated. Weeds community in the study areas encompasses 18 weed species with 17 Genera and 11 families. The dominant families of weed flora were Poaceae (22.22%), Fabaceae (16.66%), Ammaranthaceae (11.11%), and Brassicaceae (11.11%). The dominant weed species in study area were Anagallis arvensis (78.63%), Phalaris minor (6.7%), Melilotus indica (4.22%), Avena futua (3.5%), Chenopodium album (1.51%), Sisymbrium irio (1.05%), Medicago denticulata (0.70%), Sonchus asper (0.54%), Rumex dentatus (0.44%), Cronopus didymus (0.33%) and Fumaria indica (0.31%). Therefore, it is concluded that this study aims to helpful the distribution patterns and importance of different weed species in district Layyah and providing valuable insights for targeted weed management in wheat cultivation.
To share on other social networks, click on any share button. What are these?
