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Software for Mapping and Analyzing Weed Distributions: gWeedMap

Dep. of Crop Science, North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC 27695-7620

^* Corresponding author (david_krueger{at}ncsu.edu).

The spatial pattern of weeds in a field is often patchy. This pattern can be visualized with maps created by geographical information system (GIS) software. However, this software is often difficult use and/or expensive, especially if not all of the GIS functionality is needed. The objective of this project was to develop a means of easily and economically generating weed maps. This was accomplished by creating a PC-based Windows software tool to generate weed maps from scouting information. The scout enters weed data that has been collected in a gridded, systematic sampling protocol. From this information, the program creates a map for each weed species in the field. Scouting data can be density, percent cover, or any other type of measurement. Five data ranges are displayed on the map, with the user specifying the data values and map colors associated with each range. Various statistics are calculated, such as the average density of each species. Weed diversity in each field is determined with Shannon's diversity index and evenness index. These indices are also calculated with the density data weighted by the competitiveness of each weed species. This gives the weed ecologist a quantitative measure of the competitive diversity, which is related to the impact of the weed population on yield loss.

Received for publication December 28, 1996.