Intercropping drives plant phenotypic plasticity and changes in functional trait space
The relevance of intercropping, where two or more crop species are simultaneously grown on the same land space, is growing due to its potential for improving resource use and maintaining stable yields under variable weather conditions. However, the actual growth of intercropped species may differ re...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Basic and Applied Ecology |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1439179122000317 |
| _version_ | 1827877827178921984 |
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| author | James Ajal Lars P. Kiær Robin J. Pakeman Christoph Scherber Martin Weih |
| author_facet | James Ajal Lars P. Kiær Robin J. Pakeman Christoph Scherber Martin Weih |
| author_sort | James Ajal |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The relevance of intercropping, where two or more crop species are simultaneously grown on the same land space, is growing due to its potential for improving resource use and maintaining stable yields under variable weather conditions. However, the actual growth of intercropped species may differ resulting from the idiosyncratic effect of crop diversity, and with this, the realized benefits from intercrops are found to depend critically on the cultivar, species, management and environmental conditions. This study aimed to apply a trait-based approach, in which ecological niche spaces are defined through n-dimensional hypervolumes, to identify the contribution of species/cultivar, cultivation design (sole crop or intercrop) and management (low or high fertilization) to the trait diversity of four crop species, pea-barley and faba bean-wheat, when grown as sole crops and intercrops. Four traits were used as trait axes for the trait space analysis: canopy height, shoot biomass, tiller/node number, and grain yield. We found that trait spaces differed with crop species and cultivars, and whether they were grown as intercrops or sole crops. Trait spaces differed between high and low fertilization only for the cereals grown in the more productive site (i.e. Denmark). Species grown as intercrops had larger volumes than when grown as sole crops, as a result of trait plasticity. This response to intercropping was apparent in almost all the species grown in Sweden and Denmark, except for wheat in Denmark. The study demonstrated that individual species responded to intercropping compared to sole cropping through the plasticity of traits, which influenced the shape of the hypervolumes to divide up the trait space between the species. The findings are important in illustrating the plastic responses of arable crops, which are relevant for understanding the productivity of species grown in intercrops as compared to sole crops. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T17:41:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b5c6b57fb1d0408da7d2f50f6a16887a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1439-1791 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T17:41:58Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Basic and Applied Ecology |
| spelling | doaj.art-b5c6b57fb1d0408da7d2f50f6a16887a2023-08-04T05:46:29ZengElsevierBasic and Applied Ecology1439-17912022-06-01614152Intercropping drives plant phenotypic plasticity and changes in functional trait spaceJames Ajal0Lars P. Kiær1Robin J. Pakeman2Christoph Scherber3Martin Weih4Department of Crop Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 7043, SE-75007 Uppsala, Sweden; Corresponding author.Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, 1871 Frederiksberg, DenmarkThe James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 8QH, UKInstitute of Landscape Ecology, University of Münster, Heisenbergstraße 2, 48149 Münster, Germany; Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Centre for Biodiversity Monitoring, 53113 Bonn, GermanyDepartment of Crop Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 7043, SE-75007 Uppsala, SwedenThe relevance of intercropping, where two or more crop species are simultaneously grown on the same land space, is growing due to its potential for improving resource use and maintaining stable yields under variable weather conditions. However, the actual growth of intercropped species may differ resulting from the idiosyncratic effect of crop diversity, and with this, the realized benefits from intercrops are found to depend critically on the cultivar, species, management and environmental conditions. This study aimed to apply a trait-based approach, in which ecological niche spaces are defined through n-dimensional hypervolumes, to identify the contribution of species/cultivar, cultivation design (sole crop or intercrop) and management (low or high fertilization) to the trait diversity of four crop species, pea-barley and faba bean-wheat, when grown as sole crops and intercrops. Four traits were used as trait axes for the trait space analysis: canopy height, shoot biomass, tiller/node number, and grain yield. We found that trait spaces differed with crop species and cultivars, and whether they were grown as intercrops or sole crops. Trait spaces differed between high and low fertilization only for the cereals grown in the more productive site (i.e. Denmark). Species grown as intercrops had larger volumes than when grown as sole crops, as a result of trait plasticity. This response to intercropping was apparent in almost all the species grown in Sweden and Denmark, except for wheat in Denmark. The study demonstrated that individual species responded to intercropping compared to sole cropping through the plasticity of traits, which influenced the shape of the hypervolumes to divide up the trait space between the species. The findings are important in illustrating the plastic responses of arable crops, which are relevant for understanding the productivity of species grown in intercrops as compared to sole crops.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1439179122000317Cereal-legumeCrop diversityFunctional traitsHypervolumeIntercropsTrait space |
| spellingShingle | James Ajal Lars P. Kiær Robin J. Pakeman Christoph Scherber Martin Weih Intercropping drives plant phenotypic plasticity and changes in functional trait space Basic and Applied Ecology Cereal-legume Crop diversity Functional traits Hypervolume Intercrops Trait space |
| title | Intercropping drives plant phenotypic plasticity and changes in functional trait space |
| title_full | Intercropping drives plant phenotypic plasticity and changes in functional trait space |
| title_fullStr | Intercropping drives plant phenotypic plasticity and changes in functional trait space |
| title_full_unstemmed | Intercropping drives plant phenotypic plasticity and changes in functional trait space |
| title_short | Intercropping drives plant phenotypic plasticity and changes in functional trait space |
| title_sort | intercropping drives plant phenotypic plasticity and changes in functional trait space |
| topic | Cereal-legume Crop diversity Functional traits Hypervolume Intercrops Trait space |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1439179122000317 |
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