DISCO-WEED | Disentangling the role of anthropic disturbances and ecological processes on weed community assembly

Weeds are an important threat to crop production and management rules have been developed to regulate weeds in fields. However, intensive use of herbicides and inorganic fertilizers, large-scale simplification of crop sequences and repeated ploughing has caused considerable biodiversity loss in European agro-ecosystems; many weed species are currently threatened with extinction. Moreover, the drastic decline observed in weed diversity and abundance has highlighted the crucial functional role weeds play in agroecosystem food-webs; including in pollination, provision of habitat and biological control.

The recognition of the need to better balance food production with other, non-provisioning ecosystem services, is reflected in the 2014-2020 reform of the Common Agricultural Policy which, for the first time includes ‘greening measures’ as a requirement for Pillar 1 payments (i.e. direct income support payments to farmers) that primarily support agricultural productivity. Assuring food security and conserving farmland biodiversity while reducing chemical inputs has also been the motivation for a number of National initiatives (e.g. French Ecophyto Plan, Campaign for the Farmed Environment in the UK). In this context, it is imperative that the consequences of agricultural management on weed abundance and crop production are investigated.

The FRB-CESAB DISCO-WEED project addressed these challenges using an interdisciplinary approach and filled the knowledge gap to reducing chemical inputs and understanding the effects of weeds on crop production.

This document summarizes in a few pages the group’s context and objectives, the methods and approaches used, the main findings, as well as the impact for science, society, and both public and private decision-making.