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Influence of soil organic matter on the sensitivity of selected wild and crop species to common herbicides

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Abstract

Current regulatory protocols for assessing herbicide effects on plants rely heavily on the use of crops grown under controlled greenhouse conditions to indicate risks to wild vegetation. Guideline test protocols call for low levels of soil nutrients, approximately 3 % organic matter (OM), to test the worst-case scenario for non-target species growing in poor soils. However, species sensitivity to herbicides may be affected by growing conditions, especially soil nutrient levels. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of high and low soil OM content on the sensitivity of plants to several common agricultural herbicides (glyphosate, chlorimuron ethyl and dicamba). Ten plant species (wild and crop) with high (nitrophilous) or low (non-nitrophilous) affinity for nitrogen were grown under greenhouse conditions in soil with two levels of OM (3 and 9 %) and were exposed to seven doses of the three herbicides in concurrent experiments. Results showed that most species were more sensitive to glyphosate under high OM conditions while chlorimuron ethyl and dicamba results were mixed with respect to OM levels. Overall, 15 species-herbicide combinations were more sensitive in high OM soil, while 11 were more sensitive in low OM soil. No clear pattern in sensitivity emerged among nitrophilous and non-nitrophilous species. Several species showed a difference in response at herbicide levels expected to reach non-target habitats adjacent to crop fields through drift (5 % commonly and 25 % occasionally). In terms of regulatory testing, guidelines may need alteration to allow testing with nutrient levels that more accurately reflect natural environments.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Dr Adam Smith and Simon Gräfe for statistical help with R software. Dr. Paula Smith, Dr. Gladys Stephenson and Mary Moody all provided valuable information about soil testing procedures. We are grateful to Della Bond for use of lab equipment. The authors also wish to thank Roser Rotchés-Ribalta, Deanna Ellis, Jessica Parsons and Nayana De Silva for greenhouse assistance. Funding for this work was provided by Environment Canada.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest

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  1. Environment Canada, Science & Technology Branch, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Raven Rd, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0H3, Canada

    Jane E. Allison, Céline Boutin & David Carpenter

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  1. Jane E. Allison
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  2. Céline Boutin
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  3. David Carpenter
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Correspondence to Céline Boutin.

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Allison, J.E., Boutin, C. & Carpenter, D. Influence of soil organic matter on the sensitivity of selected wild and crop species to common herbicides. Ecotoxicology 22, 1289–1302 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-013-1116-3

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