Roles of emergence time and interspecific competition on the dominance and coexistence of Setaria faberi and Digitaria ciliaris in an orchard weed community in Japan

Setaria faberi and Digitaria ciliaris are summer annual grass weeds that constitute an orchard weed community in Japan. Species dominance in the weed community shifts from S. faberi to D. ciliaris with an emergence delay. The change in species dominance is assumed to be a clue to how weeds dominate or coexist in shaping the community. Population dynamics and seasonal variations in emergence and competitive ability were studied from this viewpoint. Field monitoring and pot experiments exhibited that the emergence period of the two species overlapped extensively from April to June. The emergence of S. faberi began 2 weeks earlier than that of D. ciliaris in April and declined in June as a result of the induction of secondary dormancy. The plant density of D. ciliaris was high during the whole period. The great mortality of the species was replenished with its great natality. The replacement series experiments revealed that S. faberi that had been planted in April was a better competitor than D. ciliaris, but it lost its competitive superiority in the June plantings, when D. ciliaris became a superior competitor to S. faberi. The level of seed output was greater for D. ciliaris, even when it was an inferior competitor. Therefore, the shift in species dominance appeared to be attributed to a change in competitive superiority between the two species. The early emergence of S. faberi and the high plant density of D. ciliaris might accelerate competitive exclusion. The two species coexist when they are equivalent in competitiveness.