Many abiotic factors effect plants germination, growth, and development. This Ph.D. study elucidates the effect of reduced light, low oxygen and seed dormancy on germination and growth of some weed species, field crops and vegetables. One study describes the growth and developmental responses of some common, invasive and rare weed species to reduced light levels in greenhouse experiments.
The seed germination response of some weed species, field crops, and vegetables to different oxygen concentrations was also quantified in the laboratory experiments. The effect of east-west (EW) and north-south (NS) row orientations on weed biomass and grain yield of summer barley, oilseed rape, triticale and oat in Denmark was examined. The effect of rolling on biomass production of weeds and grain yield of cereals in Denmark was also investigated in field experiments. It also described that hypoxia improved the germination of the problematic invader Alliaria petiolate of North American forests.
A method was developed to break seed dormancy of the herb garlic mustard using chemicals.