Knowing the distribution of weed seedlings in farmer-managed fields could help researchers develop reliable distribution maps for site-specific weed management. With a knowledge of the spatial arrangement of a weed population, cost effective sampling programs and management strategies can be designed, so inputs can be selected and applied to specific field areas where management is warranted. In 1997 and 1998, weeds were sampled at 612 to 682 sites in two center pivot irrigated corn fields (71 and 53 ha) in eastern Colorado. Weeds were enumerated when corn reached the two-leaf, four-leaf, and physiological maturity stages in a 76.2- by 76.2-m grid, a random-directed grid where sites were established at intervals of 76.2 m, and a star configuration based on a 7.62- by 7.62-m grid within three 23,225 m2 areas. Directional correlograms were calculated for 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, and 150° from the crop row. Fifteen weed species were observed across fields. Spatial dependence occurred in 7 of the 93 samples (a collection of sampling units for a particular weed species that was detected within a field at a particular sampling time and year) for populations of field sandbur, pigweed species, nightshade species, and common lambsquarters. Correlogram analysis indicated that 18 to 72% of the variation in sample density was a result of spatial dependence over a geographic distance not exceeding 5 to 363 m among the examined data. Because of the lack of spatial correlation for weed seedling distributions in these eastern Colorado corn fields, interpolated density maps should be based on grid sizes (separation distances) less than 7.62 m for weed seedling infestations.
Nomenclature: Common lambsquarters, Chenopodium album L. CHEAL; field sandbur, Cenchrus longispinus (Hack.) Fern CCHPA; nightshade spp., Solanum spp.; pigweed spp., Amaranthus spp.; corn, Zea mays L.
