Population dynamics of dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) in turfgrass as influenced by a biological control agent, Sclerotinia minor
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Control of Taraxacum officinale (dandelion) and other broadleaf weeds in turfgrass has been readily achieved with phenoxy herbicides, but the herbicide option has been revoked in many regions, necessitating alternative weed control strategies. One biological alternative is Sclerotinia minor, an Ascomycete fungus. The impact of S. minor on broadleaf weed dynamics and biotic interactions were studied in a turfgrass environment. The goal was to maximize effectiveness of a S. minor formulation as a biocontrol of dandelion using an ecological approach. S. minor efficacy was not affected by turf microenvironments and was similarly efficacious with spring or fall application. All accessions from a worldwide collection of dandelion and 32 turfgrass broadleaf species were susceptible to S. minor. Biocontrol efficacy was inversely correlated with dandelion age, but efficacy on all ages was enhanced in the presence of grass competition. When combined with regular mowing at 7-10 cm, the S. minor suppressive effect on dandelion was similar to the herbicide effect, particularly in the following season. Weed suppression was less with close mowing at 3-5 cm due to increased dandelion seedling recruitment. While spring herbicide application was effective to suppress dandelion population, the S. minor treatment has no residual activity, necessitating a second application to suppress seedling recruits. Root regrowth after S. minor infection was minimal and was further reduced in superior quality turf after season-long mowing, and after spring applications. S. minor infected dandelion seeds, reduced the dandelion seedbank, and reduced dandelion seedling emergence by 98%. S. minor did not affect the emergence or the total biomass of cool season temperate turfgrass species. Turfgrass quality was improved following S. minor application and populations of other broadleaf weeds were also controlled by S. minor. Understanding the biotic interactions within the turfgrass environment has rewardingly lead to successful integration of the S.minor biocontrol with the common management tools of mowing and over-seeding to achieve excellent control of dandelion and a healthy thriving turf.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".