Dynamics of weed clusters: Current understanding and some open problems

Aggregated distribution of weeds is of interest to weed management because it offers the opportunity to control weed patches only. Simulation studies have been conducted to analyse weed cluster dynamics. Results show that weed clusters have their own dynamics that does not follow straightforwardly from the description of life-history characteristics of individual plants. Two recent theoretical results in the study of weed cluster dynamics are rephrased as hypotheses to be tested against field observations, and their potential relevance to weed patch management are discussed.