B8260 - Territorial Agronomy, Biodiversity and Weed Management

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student will have acquired the basic elements both for the interpretation of the agronomic use of the territory and for the evaluation of the level of interconnection with the surrounding ecosystems. In this context, knowledge of herbaceous crop rotations as well as floristic evolution based on the adopted cropping systems will be of primary importance. Both chemical management strategies of weed flora and "biological" alternatives will also be known. The student will also be able to know the "biological indicators" that can be used to summarize the level of sustainability and landscape impact of the various cropping systems. He will also be able to evaluate the level of agro-ecological sustainability provided by the "useful" biodiversity spread in a given rural territory. He will also be able to analyze the spontaneous flora of urban and other anthropized environments in terms of criticality and/or compatibility. The student will be able to know the now “ancient” hydraulic-agrarian systems of plains, hills and mountains and will be able to make a landscape interpretation of them and will be able to compare them with the current territorial agronomic management. The analysis of biodiversity and “crop” and “wild” floristic landscape will be in summary objectives of primary importance and will be analyzed both to monitor the territorial floristic evolution in space and time and to identify the compromise between agricultural productivity and environmental protection.

Course contents

27372 - Territorial Agronomy, Biodiversity and Management of Spontaneous Flora

1. Territorial Agronomy

   Ecological and anthropogenic characteristics of agroecosystems. Similarities and differences between agroecosystems and natural ecosystems. Distinctive features of territorial agronomy. Concept of sustainable productivity. Evolution of agroecosystems over space and time. Environmental issues affecting modern agroecosystems. Agronomic strategies for territorial planning aimed at safeguarding and/or enhancing biodiversity. Territorial quality labels in agri-food supply chains.

2. Agricultural Systems

   Slash-and-burn agriculture

   Vertical and horizontal transhumance

   Intensive, extensive, and integrated agriculture

   Organic farming

   Biodynamic agriculture
   Hill and mountain agriculture
   Agriculture with genetically modified plants
   Urban agriculture

3. Agricultural Water Management Systems

   Agricultural hydraulic systems in plains (drainage, reclaimed lands, historical agroforestry field arrangements), hills, and mountains (water regulation and erosion issues).

4. Territorial Agronomic Features of Italian Regions

   Relationships among soil, ecological, and socio-economic characteristics and the agronomic productivity of the different Italian regions.

5. Agroecological Land Management

   Concepts of mosaic management, crop rotations, ecological corridors, agroforestry, and the ecosystem services provided by hedgerows.

6. Classification of Spontaneous Flora

   Botanical, biological, ecological, and agronomic characteristics.

7. Agronomic Damage Caused by Weeds

   Quantitative, qualitative, and agronomic impacts.

8. Competition and Allelopathy

   Root and aboveground competition; allelopathic interactions.

9. Identification of Major Weed Species

   Taxonomic grouping at the botanical family level and identification at seedling and seed stages.

   10.0

10. Toxic and Poisonous Flora

    Knowledge of species posing the greatest risks within agroecosystems and natural ecosystems potentially used for animal grazing.

11. Parasitic Flora

    Achlorophyllous species capable of parasitizing underground or aboveground parts of crops. Introduction to hemiparasitic flora.

12. Persistence Strategies of Weeds in Agroecosystems

    Seed germination ecology, dormancy, and longevity
    Vegetative reproduction of perennial species
    Mechanisms of biotic dispersal (endozoochory, epizoochory, myrmecochory, autochory), abiotic dispersal (anemochory, hydrochory, barochory), and anthropochory.

13. 13.0 Chemical Weed Control

    Application methods and timing, mechanisms of action, and environmental concerns. Concepts of selectivity, tolerance, and resistance. Herbicide modes of action according to the HRAC (Herbicide Resistance Action Committee) classification. Overview of major herbicide families. Advantages and limitations of pre-emergence and post-emergence weed control strategies. Plant–herbicide interactions: selectivity, tolerance, and resistance. Concepts of “difficult weeds,” crop mimicry, and crop–weed associations.

14. Conventional and Integrated Weed Management

    Weed species and control strategies in winter cereals, maize, sugar beet, rice, rapeseed, sunflower, soybean, alfalfa, vineyards, olive groves, other orchards, turfgrass systems, urban ecosystems, and nurseries.

15. Non-Chemical Weed Management

    Preventive approaches (crop rotations, stale seedbeds, soil tillage, etc.) and curative mechanical, physical, and biological methods. Introduction to natural herbicides.

16. Soil Seed Bank

    Botanical, morphological, and ecological aspects. Self-burial mechanisms. Relationships between agronomic practices and seed accumulation, persistence, and emergence dynamics. Agronomic importance of predicting weed infestation dynamics. Concepts of germination, dormancy, and seed viability. Vegetative propagation organs of perennial species.

17. Benefits of Wild Floristic Biodiversity

    Entomophilous wildflowers, plants beneficial to parasitoid insects, winter anti-erosion cover species, and rare species. The role of entomophilous species in rural landscape ecology.

18. Cover Crops

    Ecosystem services provided by soil cover. Species used, agronomic characteristics, sowing periods, and growth patterns. Distinction between autumn–winter and spring–summer cover crops.

19. Floristic Biodiversity Indices in Agroecosystems

    Calculation of Shannon (H′) and Simpson (D) indices and agronomic strategies to promote biodiversity dynamics in agroecosystems.

20. Floristic Dynamics under Climate Change
21. Relationships between climate changes, increasing frequency of extreme events, and weed species likely to expand or decline.
22. Green Roofs and Vertical Gardens

    Introduction to the use of spontaneous plant species for sustainable horizontal and vertical greening. Benefits of green roofs in urban ecosystems.

23. Forest Herbaceous Flora

    Botanical and ecological overview of species typically found in forest ecosystems and adjacent grasslands. Relationships between the ecological requirements of herbaceous species and the dynamic resources provided by forest trees (evergreen and deciduous), such as light penetration and leaf litter.

24. Dune Ecosystems

    Floristic characteristics, areas of greatest vulnerability, and methods for restoring dune vegetation.

25. Agricultural Crop Agrobiodiversity

    Overview of local (often traditional or heirloom) varieties of herbaceous crops. Cultural, historical, and economic importance of conserving this germplasm.

26. Edible Wild Flora

    Regional food ethnobotany. Opportunities for utilizing this biodiversity in innovative food supply chains.

27. Geo-Agronomic Evolution of Spices

Aromatic plants and spices of the Old and New Worlds. Historical and agronomic evolution of the spice trade. Emerging agricultural regions for the cultivation of different spice crops.

Readings/Bibliography

Baldoni, G., & Dinelli, G. (Eds.). (2024). Principi di agronomia. UTET università.

Catizone, P., & Zanin, G. (2001). Malerbologia. In Malerbologia (pp. 1-925). Patron Editore.

Viggiani, P., & Angelini, R. (1990). Erbe spontanee e infestanti: tecniche di riconoscimento: dicotiledoni. Bayer Italia.

Viggiani, P., & Angelini, R. (1998). Erbe spontanee e infestanti: tecniche di riconoscimento (Graminaceae).

Teaching methods

Lectures in presence, practical exercises in the classroom (recognition of adult wild plants, seedlings, seeds) and in the field. Recalls between scientific theory and practical reality as well as between environmental and productive objectives with the search for agro-ecological compatibility.The potential utility of each species will be highlighted, underscoring the anthropocentric nature of the concept of undesirability

Assessment methods

The verification and evaluation of learning will be carried out in oral exams. In this context, some questions will be asked on the following topics: territorial agronomy, management of weed flora and recognition of weed/wild biodiversity. The student will begin the examination by presenting a short PowerPoint presentation in which they have developed their own case study, either real (based on personal experience) or virtual (drawn from the literature), related to any topic covered during the course."

Teaching tools

Original educational-photographic material, collection of crop and weed seeds, microscope to highlight the details of the various plant elements (leaves, stems, flowers, fruits, seeds, etc.) to identify the various species.

Office hours

See the website of Stefano Benvenuti