Quantifying the Weed Seedbank Using Quantitative PCR and Soil Community Analysis

Quantification of  weed seedbanks is essential for the evaluation and improvement of integrated weed management systems by farmers and integral in the Sustaining Resources Grand Challenge. Currently, weed scientists filter seed from the soil and count them – a hopelessly time consuming process that cannot be scaled or used by farmers. If farmers could quantify their seedbanks as they quantify soil nutrients, they could adjust their weed management strategies, improving control of those weeds and improving farm sustainability. Our overarching objective is to develop methods to quantify weed seed using techniques borrowed from soil microbial community analysis.