Spatial Abundance of Soil Seed Bank in Parthenium Infested Maize Fields in Western Gojjam Zone, Ethiopia

Background: The reserve of viable weed seeds present on the soil surface and scattered throughout the soil profile. Objective: A glasshouse study was conducted to determine the special abundance of soil seed bank flora in parthenium invaded maize fields in West Gojjam Zone. Methods: The soil samples were collected from 90 fields at 0-5 cm, 5-10 cm and 10-15 cm soil depth with 10 cm width. Results: A total of 121 weed species belonging to 27 families were found in the soil seed banks. The most frequent families were Poaceae (31 species), Asteraceae (21 species) and Leguminosae (9 species). The highest importance value was recorded by Parthenium hysterophorus, Ageratum conyzoides and Echinochloa colona with 19.05, 19.02 and 14.37%, respectively at 0-5 cm soil depth. The highest importance values of 20.39, 20.16 and 16.54% were registered by P. hysterophorus, A. conyzoides and Galiansago parviflora, respectively at 5-10 cm soil depth. Likewise, at 10-15 cm soil depth highest importance value was recorded by A. conyzoides, P. hysterophorus and E. colona with 19.12, 17.30 and 116.13%, respectively. The Shannon diversity index at 0-5, 5-10 and 10-15 cm soil depth were 4.46, 4.41 and 4.17, respectively. High similarity (68.10%) was observed between 0-5 and 5-10 and followed by 5-10 and 10-15 cm (60.19%) and 0-5 and 10-15 cm (55.39%). Conclusions: These results could help to predict infestation potential and could lead to improved weed management strategies in maize growing areas in the study area.