One of the papers I found most interesting last year was Characterizing Weed Populations in Different Turfgrass Sites throughout the Klang Valley of Western Peninsular Malaysia (Uddin et al., 2010). Weeds are one of the biggest challenges facing turfgrass managers in tropical Asia. Uddin's survey of 53 sites in the Klang Valley included seventeen athletic fields, six sod farms, nineteen residential lawns, and eleven golf courses.

In total, 79 different weed species were identified in this survey, with 63 of the species being found in lawns, 29 on athletic fields, 25 on sod farms, and 23 on golf courses. Some of the most pervasive weeds were the sedges Cyperus aromaticus and Cyperus compressus along with grasses Chrysopogon aciculatus, Eleusine indica, and Digitaria fuscescens.

In three bermudagrass fields, 37 weed species were found. In three manilagrass (Zoysia matrella) fields, there were less than half as many species present. Only seventeen weed species were found in the manilagrass fields compared with 37 in the bermudagrass fields. Wiecko (2000) wrote about the challenges of growing bermudagrass in tropical Asia and this survey confirms quantitatively what turfgrass managers in Asia see every day: bermudagrass is easily infested with weeds, while manilagrass produces a dense sward that has comparatively few weeds.