Modelling Soil Water Retention for Weed Seed Germination Sensitivity to Water Potential
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Date
2012-5-6
Authors
Bullied, W. John
Bullock, Paul R.
Van Acker, Rene C.
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Abstract
Soil water retention is important for the study of water availability to germinating weed seeds. Six soil water retention models (Campbell, Brooks-Corey, four- and five-parameter van Genuchten, Tani, and Russo) with residual soil water parameter derivations were evaluated to describe water retention for weed seed germination at minimum threshold soil water potential for three hillslope positions. The Campbell, Brooks-Corey, and four-parameter van Genuchten model with modified or estimated forms of the residual parameter had superior but similar data fit. The Campbell model underestimated water retention at a potential less than −0.5 MPa for the upper hillslope that could result in underestimating seed germination. The Tani and Russo models overestimated water retention at a potential less than −0.1 MPa for all hillslope positions. Model selection and residual parameter specification are important for weed seed germination by representing water retention at the level of minimum threshold water potential for germination. Weed seed germination models driven by the hydrothermal soil environment rely on the best-fitting soil water retention model to produce dynamic predictions of seed germination.
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Citation
W. John Bullied, Paul R. Bullock, and Rene C. Van Acker, “Modelling Soil Water Retention for Weed Seed Germination Sensitivity to Water Potential,” Applied and Environmental Soil Science, vol. 2012, Article ID 812561, 13 pages, 2012. doi:10.1155/2012/812561