Parthenium hysterophorus L. is regarded as one of the most invasive weed species. This study evaluated the effect of soil pH on P. hysterophorus weed growth and fecundity, as well as the effect of burial depths on P. hyterophorus seed survival and emergence. The first study evaluated five soil pH levels (acidic, sub-acidic, neutral, sub-basic, and basic) in a randomised complete block design. Seed germinability and subsequent seedling growth (height, leaf area, biomass, and seed number/plant) were evaluated. This study showed that P. hysterophorus seeds have a similar germination capacity under varying soil pH conditions. However, acidic soil indicated accelerated growth (25% higher biomass with 15.2% more leaf area) and fecundity (13.4% faster to enter the flowering stage at 74 days after sowing). In the second study, two factors were tested; burial depths (0.5, 5, 10, and 20 cm) being nested into seven burial durations (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 months). Seed viability (final germination percentage and germination rate index), electrical conductance, and emergence percentage were assessed with the burial conditions. The results showed that only seed buried at 0.5 cm depth indicated emergence (81.3% of cumulative emergence). Forty per cent of the seeds remained viable after exhumation at 0.5–5 cm depth, while only 19–27% survived as the burial depth increased beyond 10 cm depth within 12 months. The seed remained viable for more than 12 months as a seed bank, despite faster deterioration at increasing soil depth.

• Allan, S., Shi, B., & Adkins, S. W. (2018). Impact of parthenium weed on human and animal health. In S. Adkins, A. Shabbir, & K. Dhileepan (Eds.), Parthenium weed: Biology, ecology and management (pp. 105-128). Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International. https://doi.org/10.1079/9781780645254.0105

• Annapurna, C., & Singh, J. S. (2003). Variation of Parthenium hysterophorus in response to soil quality: Implications for invasiveness. Weed Research, 43(3), 190-198. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3180.2003.00332.x

• Bajwa, A. A., Farooq, M., Nawaz, A., Yadav, L., Chauhan, B. S., & Adkins, S. (2019). Impact of invasive plant species on the livelihoods of farming households: Evidence from Parthenium hysterophorus invasion in rural Punjab, Pakistan. Biological Invasions, 21, 3285-3304. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-019-02047-0

• Bajwa, A. A., Ullah, A., Farooq, M., Chauhan, B. S., & Adkins, S. (2020). Competition dynamics of Parthenium hysterophorus in direct-seeded aerobic rice fields. Experimental Agriculture, 56(2), 196-203. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0014479719000292

• Chauhan, B. S., & Johnson, D. E. (2008). Germination ecology of goosegrass (Eleusine indica): An important grass weed of rainfed rice. Weed Science, 56(5), 699–706. https://doi.org/10.1614/WS-08-048.1

• Dutra, A. S., & Vieira, R. D. (2006). Accelerated ageing test to evaluate seed vigor in pumpkin and zucchini seeds. Seed Science and Technology, 34(1), 209-214. https://doi.org/10.15258/sst.2006.34.1.24

• Gentili, R., Ambrosini, R., Montagnani, C., Caronni, S., & Citterio, S. (2018). Effect of soil pH on the growth, reproductive investment and pollen allergenicity of Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. Frontiers in Plant Science, 9, 1335. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2018.01335

• International Seed Testing Association. (2016). International rules for seed testing. https://www.seedtest.org/en/publications/international-rules-seed-testing.html

• Jiang, Y., Li, Y., Zeng, Q., Wei, J., & Yu, H. (2017). The effect of soil pH on plant growth, leaf chlorophyll fluorescence and mineral element content of two blueberries. Acta Horticulturae, 1180, 269–276. https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2017.1180.36

• Karim, S. M. R., Naher, L., Norhafizah, M. Z., Kayat, F., & Sarip, N. (2018). First report of Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn. isolated from parthenium weed (Parthenium hysterophorus L.) in Malaysia. Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science, 41(3), 1355-1365.

• Kaur, M., Aggarwal, N. K., Kumar, V., & Dhiman, R. (2014). Effects and management of Parthenium hysterophorus: A weed of global significance. International Scholarly Research Notices, 2014, 368647. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/368647

• Laghmouchi, Y., Belmehdi, O., Bouyahya, A., Senhaji, N. S., & Abrini, J. (2017). Effect of temperature, salt stress and pH on seed germination of medicinal plant Origanum compactum. Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology, 10, 156-160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bcab.2017.03.002

• Lončarić, Z., Karalić, K., Popović, B., Rastija, D., & Vukobratović, M. (2008). Total and plant available micronutrients in acidic and calcareous soils in Croatia. Cereal Research Communications, 36, 331–334.

• Merino-Martín, L., Courtauld, C., Commander, L., Turner, S., Lewandrowski, W., & Stevens, J. (2017). Interactions between seed functional traits and burial depth regulate germination and seedling emergence under water stress in species from semi-arid environments. Journal of Arid Environments, 147, 25-33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2017.07.018

• Nakagawa, A. C., Ario, N., Tomita, Y., Tanaka, S., Murayama, N., Mizuta, C., & Ishibashi, Y. (2020). High temperature during soybean seed development differentially alters lipid and protein metabolism. Plant Production Science, 23(4), 504-512. https://doi.org/10.1080/1343943X.2020.1742581

• Navie, S. C., Panetta, F. D., McFadyen, R. E., & Adkins, S. W. (2004). Germinable soil seedbanks of central Queensland rangelands invaded by the exotic weed Parthenium hysterophorus L. Weed Biology and Management, 4(3), 154-167. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1445-6664.2004.00132.x

• Nguyen, T. L., Bajwa, A. A., Navie, S. C., O’Donnell, C., & Adkins, S. W. (2017). The soil seedbank of pasture communities in central Queensland invaded by Parthenium hysterophorus L. Rangeland Ecology and Management, 70(2), 244-254. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2016.07.010

• Pérez-Fernández, M. A., Calvo-Magro, E., Montanero-Fernández, J., & Oyola-Velasco, J.A. (2006). Seed germination in response to chemicals: Effect of nitrogen and pH in the media. Journal of Environmental Biology, 27(1), 13-20.

• Pierce, G. L., Warren, S. L., Mikkelsen, R. L., & Linker, H. M. (1999). Effects of soil calcium and pH on seed germination and subsequent growth of large crabgrass (Digitaria sanguinalis). Weed Technology, 13(2), 421–424. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0890037X00041968

• Rajjou, L., & Debeaujon, I. (2008). Seed longevity: survival and maintenance of high germination ability of dry seeds. Comptes Rendus Biologies, 331(10), 796-805. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crvi.2008.07.021

• Ranal, M. A., Santana, D. G. D., Ferreira, W. R., & Mendes-Rodrigues, C. (2009). Calculating germination measurements and organizing spreadsheets. Brazilian Journal of Botany, 3(4), 849-855. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0100-84042009000400022

• Schwartz-Lazaro, L. M, & Copes, J. T. (2019). A review of the soil seedbank from a weed scientists perspective. Agronomy, 9(7), 369. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy9070369

• Singh, S., & Singh, M. (2009). Effect of temperature, light and pH on germination of twelve weed species. Indian Journal of Weed Science, 41(3/4), 113–126.

• Tanveer, A., Khaliq, A., Ali, H. H., Mahajan, G., & Chauhan, B. S. (2015). Interference and management of parthenium: The world’s most important invasive weed. Crop Protection, 68, 49-59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cropro.2014.11.005

• Vilà, M., Beaury, E. M., Blumenthal, D. M., Bradley, B. A., Early, R., Laginhas, B. B., Trillo, A., Dukes, J. S., Sorte, C. J. B., & Ibañez, I. (2021). Understanding the combined impacts of weeds and climate change on crops. In Environmental Research Letters (Vol. 16, No. 3, p. 034043). IOP Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abe14b

• Wang, W., He, A., Peng, S., Huang, J., Cui, K., & Nie, L. (2018). The effect of storage condition and duration on the deterioration of primed rice seeds. Frontiers in Plant Science, 9, 172. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2018.00172

• Wong, C. L., Venneker, R., Uhlenbrook, S., Jamil, A. B. M., & Zhou, Y. (2009). Variability of rainfall in Peninsular Malaysia. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions, 6(4), 5471-5503. https://doi.org/10.5194/hessd-6-5471-2009