Interspecific competition changes nutrient : nutrient ratios of weeds and maize

The elemental ratios of plant tissues are associated with the adaptive and competitive success of a plant species in an ecosystem. So far, no study has evaluated if and how crop–weed competition influences the elemental ratios of competing populations, although such information is important to understand weed infestation dynamics and to improve weed management in agroecosystems. The objective of this study was to analyze weed–crop elemental ratios during interspecific competition between weeds and crops in greenhouse experiments. For this, maize (Zea mays L.) and the weeds Amaranthus viridis L, Bidens pilosa L., and Ipomoea grandifolia (Dammer) O'Donell were grown under seven treatments: maize and weed monocultures, and maize in competition with weeds. Competition between plants practically did not influence growth and nutrient contents of maize but reduced weed growth and nutrient uptake. Maize showed few changes in elemental ratios. In contrast, B. pilosa and I. grandifolia were very sensitive to competition and showed significant increases in C : N, C : P, C : K, N : P, and N : K ratios when grown with maize. A. viridis showed low flexibility of nutrient : nutrient ratios under the same competitive pressure as that faced by B. pilosa and I. grandifolia. The interspecific competition led to increases only in the C : P ratio of A. viridis shoots. Therefore, interspecific competition changes the elemental ratios, mainly of the weeds, and the magnitude of this change is dependent on the plant species involved. Interspecific competition changes plant biomass quality (higher C : nutrient ratios), mainly for B. pilosa and I. grandifolia.