Seed dormancy and weed emergence: from simulating environmental change to understanding trait plasticity, adaptive evolution, and population fitness

Predicting weed emergence in crop production systems
is a global challenge that requires understanding mech
anisms of weed ecology and trait evolution in response to
climate change and altered agricultural practices. Seed
dormancy is a highly adaptive trait that controls this by
defining the environmental conditions in which the seed
is able to germinate (Finch-Savage and Leubner-Metzger,
2006). Weed soil seed bank persistence and the timing
of seedling emergence depend on dormancy (Baskin
and Baskin, 2006; Walck et al., 2011; Batlla et al., 2020).
Integrating mechanisms of seed dormancy dynamics in
variable field environments and across generations with
population-based models and realistic ecophysiological
simulations (Fernández Farnocchia et al., 2021) are essen
tial for more sustainable weed management strategies.