ABSTRACT Tillage disturbs predator communities and can alter post‐dispersal weed seed removal in arable systems. Weed seed predation represents a low‐input pathway that may contribute to reductions in seed return, yet variation in predation rates across tillage intensity, seasons and weed species remains incompletely understood in UK cropping systems. Here, we quantified weekly predator‐attributable seed losses using seed cards in six fields managed under contrasting tillage systems (three no‐till and three conventional) over 2 years, focusing on Alopecurus myosuroides , Bromus secalinus and Avena fatua . Predation was consistently greater in no‐till, with weekly removals averaging 76%–79% compared with 46%–52% in conventional tillage, although rates varied markedly among seasons. Losses were consistently highest in spring, while seed losses in autumn and summer varied from year to year, alternating in rank. Inter‐annual differences were slight and did not alter the direction or magnitude of the tillage contrast. Species differences were moderate: B. secalinus generally showed lower seed removal, while A. fatua and A. myosuroides were similar and slightly higher. These findings demonstrate that reduced soil disturbance is associated with consistently greater surface seed removal by predators, which represents an important complementary process within integrated weed management. Practices that maintain surface residues and predator habitat may therefore enhance the contribution of biological seed removal in systems that rely on reduced tillage, including those often described as regenerative.
Kanomanyanga et al. (Sun,) studied this question.