Leveraging organic management practices to accelerate microbially mediated weed seed mortality

Our long-term goal is to develop more ecologically based farming systems, with a greater ability to regulate weed populations through biotic interactions.Ultimately, this will help increase the long-term profitability of organic farms by decreasing the time and financial investment required for effective weed management. To accomplish this goal, we need to determine how crop management influences weed seed mortality, the soil and weed seed microbiome, and ultimately determine which microbial taxa are associated with seed mortality.To address these knowledge gaps, our proposed research will address the following research questions:1. How does soil fertility management influence weed seed mortality and seed microbiomes?2. How do crop species and rotation affect weed seed mortality and seed microbiomes?3. To what extent does the soil microbiome and soil abiotic factors predict the weed seed microbiome, and does the seed microbiome predict seed mortality?To disseminate project results and create a greater understanding about how soil microbes contribute to weed seed biocontrol, we will also:1. Extension objective: Disseminate project results to a broad range of organic farmers, and work with them to develop a mutual understanding of the potential for soil management to influence the soil and seed microbiome to enhance weed seed mortality in the soil seedbank.2. Education objective: Develop a learning module focused on the biological control of weed seeds via the soil microbial community.