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Volume 14
Issue 8
10.3390/d14080669
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Article

Effects of Wood Distillate on Seedling Emergence and First-Stage Growth in Five Threatened Arable Plants

by
Emanuele Fanfarillo
1,†,
Riccardo Fedeli
1,†,
Tiberio Fiaschi
1,
Leopoldo de Simone
1,
Andrea Vannini
2,
Claudia Angiolini
1,3,
Stefano Loppi
1,3,* and
Simona Maccherini
1,3
1
Department of Life Sciences, University of Siena, Via PA Mattioli 4, 53100 Siena, Italy
2
Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences, and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 11/a, 43124 Parma, Italy
3
BAT Center—Interuniversity Center for Studies on Bioinspired Agro-Environmental Technology, University of Naples ‘Federico II’, 80138 Napoli, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Diversity 2022, 14(8), 669; https://doi.org/10.3390/d14080669
Submission received: 26 July 2022 / Revised: 12 August 2022 / Accepted: 13 August 2022 / Published: 17 August 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Functional Ecology: From Plant Functional Traits and Functional Diversity to Ecosystem Processes)
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Abstract

Wood distillate (WD) is an environmentally safe bio-based product stimulating plant growth and yield and allowed in Italy in organic farming. To the best of our knowledge, there are no studies on the effects of WD on spontaneous plants growing among crops, including their functional traits such as biomass. To test such effects, we carried out a lab experiment on artificially reconstructed arable plant communities composed of five species of conservation interest, which are specialist winter cereal crops: Bromus secalinus L., Centaurea cyanus L., Lathyrus aphaca L., Legousia speculum-veneris (L.) Chaix, and Scandix pecten-veneris L. After sowing 45 pots under controlled conditions, we applied WD at three concentrations (0%, 0.2%, and 0.5%) six times over 7 weeks. The number of emerged plants in each pot was counted every two weeks. Finally, we harvested all plants and measured the fresh and dry above-ground weight of each species in each pot. The resulting data were analyzed by Permutational Analysis of Variance. The application of 0.2% and 0.5% WD modified the community composition after two weeks, but such differences later disappeared. Both 0.2% and 0.5% WD had a positive effect on the dry weight of S. pecten-veneris and a negative effect on that of L. speculum-veneris. Moreover, 0.2% and 0.5% WD increased seedling emergence in L. aphaca, and 0.5% WD increased seedling emergence in S. pecten-veneris. Both 0.2% and 0.5% WD enhanced seedling emergence in the entire community. We suggest that the use of WD at low concentrations in winter cereals may be a sustainable agricultural practice that benefits crops without harming the associated plant diversity.
Keywords: agroecology; arable weed; biodiversity; functional trait; pyroligneous acid; segetal plant; sustainable agriculture; wood vinegar agroecology; arable weed; biodiversity; functional trait; pyroligneous acid; segetal plant; sustainable agriculture; wood vinegar

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MDPI and ACS Style

Fanfarillo, E.; Fedeli, R.; Fiaschi, T.; de Simone, L.; Vannini, A.; Angiolini, C.; Loppi, S.; Maccherini, S. Effects of Wood Distillate on Seedling Emergence and First-Stage Growth in Five Threatened Arable Plants. Diversity 2022, 14, 669. https://doi.org/10.3390/d14080669

AMA Style

Fanfarillo E, Fedeli R, Fiaschi T, de Simone L, Vannini A, Angiolini C, Loppi S, Maccherini S. Effects of Wood Distillate on Seedling Emergence and First-Stage Growth in Five Threatened Arable Plants. Diversity. 2022; 14(8):669. https://doi.org/10.3390/d14080669

Chicago/Turabian Style

Fanfarillo, Emanuele, Riccardo Fedeli, Tiberio Fiaschi, Leopoldo de Simone, Andrea Vannini, Claudia Angiolini, Stefano Loppi, and Simona Maccherini. 2022. "Effects of Wood Distillate on Seedling Emergence and First-Stage Growth in Five Threatened Arable Plants" Diversity 14, no. 8: 669. https://doi.org/10.3390/d14080669

APA Style

Fanfarillo, E., Fedeli, R., Fiaschi, T., de Simone, L., Vannini, A., Angiolini, C., Loppi, S., & Maccherini, S. (2022). Effects of Wood Distillate on Seedling Emergence and First-Stage Growth in Five Threatened Arable Plants. Diversity, 14(8), 669. https://doi.org/10.3390/d14080669

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