From Greece to France: competitive interactions and coexistence of weed species

In November 2025, Andreas Rekkas from the Agricultural University of Athens (AUA) completed his secondment at INRAE in Dijon (France).

During his stay, Andreas contributed to a mesocosm experiment investigating competitive interactions and the coexistence of weed species in winter crop systems. A mesocosm experiment is a controlled experimental setup that simulates field conditions using contained soil units, allowing researchers to study plant interactions under realistic but controlled conditions.

As part of this work, Andreas carried out routine measurements, including counting the density of wheat plants and several weed species such as Alopecurus myosuroides, Veronica persica, and Sinapis arvensis. He also recorded phenological observations and collected photographic documentation. When Veronica hederifolia seeds failed to germinate, he assisted with resowing new seeds in soil trays placed in controlled-environment growth chambers.

In addition to data collection, Andreas collaborated with Guillaume Adeux to analyse datasets from the previous year of the mesocosm experiment using the R statistical environment, supporting the interpretation of weed-crop competition dynamics.

He also contributed to complementary activities, including a greenhouse experiment characterising the weed seedbank from agricultural soils and a field experiment examining competitive interactions between weeds and cereal crops under different weed management treatments.

Andreas’s secondment strengthened collaboration between the University of Athens and INRAE and contributed valuable data to ongoing research on sustainable weed management.