Deriving general principles of agroecosystem multifunctionality with the Diverse Rotations Improve Valuable Ecosystem Services (DRIVES) network

Abstract

Long-term agricultural field experiments (LTFEs) have been conducted for nearly 150 years. Yet lack of coordination means that synthesis across such experiments remains rare, constituting a missed opportunity for deriving general principles of agroecosystem structure and function. Here, we introduce the Diverse Rotations Improve Valuable Ecosystem Services (DRIVES) project, which uses legacy data from North American LTFEs to address research questions about the multifunctionality of agriculture. The DRIVES Project is a network of researchers who have compiled a database of primary (i.e., observations) and secondary (i.e., transformed observations or modeling results) data from participating sites. It comprises 21 LTFEs that evaluate how crop rotational diversity impacts cropping system performance. The Network consists of United States Department of Agriculture, university, and International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center scientists (20 people) who manage and collect primary data from LTFEs and a core team (nine people) who organize the network, curate network data, and synthesize cross-network findings. As of 2024, the DRIVES Project database contains 495 site-years of crop yields, daily weather, soil analysis, and management information. The DRIVES database is findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable, which allows integration with other public datasets. Initial research has focused on how rotational diversity impacts resilience in the face of adverse weather, nutritional quality, and economic feasibility. Our collaborative approach in handling LTFE data has established a model for data organization that facilitates broader synthesis studies. We openly invite other sites to join the DRIVES network and share their data.