Demographics of glyphosate-resistant and susceptible Italian ryegrass populations from Parana

Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum L.) has become notorious due to glyphosate resistance evolution. To study the demography of susceptible and glyphosate-resistant Italian ryegrass populations, several experiments were conducted in the grower's field to evaluate seedling emergence, survival and reproductive traits patterns in three cohorts, and the effect of density on seed production. Results showed that seedling emergence is fast, and under suitable environmental conditions, it can happen within 30-days. Lower plant survival was observed in the first two cohorts (2% and 3%, respectively) compared to the last (13%). A larger number of spikes (spk) per plant (pl) was observed in plants of the first two cohorts (50.34 and 47.02 spk pl(-)(1), respectively) in comparison to the last one (26 spk pl(-1)); however, the third cohort presented a higher potential for flower (flwrs) production per spikelets (spklt) (13.5 flwrs spklt(-)(1)) in detriment to the first two (11.9 and 12.12 flwrs spklt(-)(1)). Fecundity was 20,300 and 13,830 seeds pl(-)(1) for susceptible and glyphosate-resistant plants, respectively, and presented density-dependent regulation. A knowledge of Italian ryegrass's demographic parameters provides valuable information for identifying particularly vulnerable life-history processes and developing population dynamics models that can contribute to designing more rational control strategies.

Automated summary

Italian ryegrass populations exhibit differences in seedling emergence, survival, and reproductive traits under different environmental conditions and densities. Glyphosate-resistant plants show lower seed production compared to susceptible plants and exhibit density-dependent regulation. Understanding the demographic parameters of Italian ryegrass can help in developing rational control strategies.