Journal
ACTA OECOLOGICA-INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
Volume 77, Issue -, Pages 85-90Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.actao.2016.09.004
Keywords
Agroecology; Hemiparasite; Parasitic plant; Species diversity; Sub-Saharan Africa; Weed plant community structure
Categories
Funding
- Islamic Development Bank
- ITRA Institut Togolais de Recherche Agronomique
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The facultative hemiparasitic plant Rhamphicarpa fistulosa (Orobanchaceae) thrives in seasonally wet soils in sub-Saharan Africa, mainly in marginal lowland rice growing environments where weeds are already a major constraint for rice production. Because lowland rice production is increasing in tropical Africa, it is important to ascertain the influence of R. fistulosa on weed plant communities in these rice growing habitats. We investigated weed plant community richness and composition at four different levels of R. fistulosa infestation across two years of surveys from lowland rice fields in northern Togo (West Africa). Despite a lack of significant differences in community richness among sites with different R. fistulosa infestation levels, there were significant differences in community composition, both when estimated from presence-absence data and from relative abundance data, after controlling statistically for geographic proximity among sites. Rhamphicarpa fistulosa infestation, therefore, may influence the competitive balance between rice and its weeds and shape weed community structure. However, experimental studies are required to elucidate the weed host range of R. fistulosa and the direct and indirect effects of this hemiparasite in rice fields in order to predict its net impact on rice and its weed species. (C) 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available