Sublethal effects of herbicides on the biomass and seed production of terrestrial non-crop plant species, influenced by environment, development stage and assessment date.
Guidelines provided by the OECD and EPPO allow the use of single-species tests performed in greenhouses to assess the risk of herbicides to non-target terrestrial plant communities in the field. The present study was undertaken to investigate the use of greenhouse data to determine effects of herbicides with a different mode of action on the biomass, seed production and emergence of field-grown plants. In addition, a single species approach was compared with a mixed species approach. Effects on the biomass of greenhouse and field-grown plants were found to be related at different effect levels, indicating that it might be possible to translate results from greenhouse studies to field situations. However, the use of single-species tests may not be valid. The response of a single plant species to sublethal herbicide dosages differed to the response of the same species grown in a mixture with other species.
Riemens
Marleen M
MM
Wageningen University and Research Centre, Plant Research International, P.O. Box 616, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands. marleen.riemens@wur.nl
Dueck
Thom
T
Kempenaar
Corné
C
Lotz
Lambertus A P
LA
Kropff
Martin J J
MJ
D018533:Biomass; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D017753:Ecosystem; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D006540:Herbicides / Q000633:toxicity*; D063245:Plant Development; D010944:Plants / Q000187:drug effects*; D012639:Seeds / Q000254:growth & development*
D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D006540:Herbicides