Pub Date : 2024-06-29DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2024.109141
Dongxue Tao , Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo , Guiyao Zhou , Daniel Revillini , Qiang He , Clifford S. Swanson , Yingzhi Gao
Phosphorus is a nonrenewable source of fertilization, which will challenge the future of food production and cropland sustainability worldwide. Crop diversity is known to promote greater productivity, yet the capacity of crop diversity to alleviate productivity dependence on nonrenewable fertilization and promote multiple ecosystem services remains virtually unknown. Here, we conducted a field experiment to quantify the contribution of maize-alfalfa intercropping to soil biodiversity and multiple ecosystem services under contrasting phosphorus fertilization levels. Results showed that unfertilized intercropping can support higher levels of ecosystem services such as soil microbial habitat, plant-soil mutualism, nutrient cycling, and soil carbon storage compared to phosphorus-fertilized monoculture. Intercropping could optimize the delivery of soil diversity and multiple ecosystem services override phosphorus, including microbial diversity, weighted ecosystem services, productivity stability and sustainability, and soil microbial habitat were 5–30 times higher, respectively. Unfertilized intercropping also helped to reduce important tradeoffs between productivity and soil microbial diversity compared with fertilized monoculture. Together, our results provide evidence that intercropping can optimize crop use of phosphorus, and promote multiple important ecosystem services, which can help alleviate global dependence on nonrenewable, and often environmentally deleterious fertilizer inputs.
{"title":"Maize-alfalfa intercropping alleviates the dependence of multiple ecosystem services on nonrenewable fertilization","authors":"Dongxue Tao , Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo , Guiyao Zhou , Daniel Revillini , Qiang He , Clifford S. Swanson , Yingzhi Gao","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109141","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2024.109141","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Phosphorus is a nonrenewable source of fertilization, which will challenge the future of food production and cropland sustainability worldwide. Crop diversity is known to promote greater productivity, yet the capacity of crop diversity to alleviate productivity dependence on nonrenewable fertilization and promote multiple ecosystem services remains virtually unknown. Here, we conducted a field experiment to quantify the contribution of maize-alfalfa intercropping to soil biodiversity and multiple ecosystem services under contrasting phosphorus fertilization levels. Results showed that unfertilized intercropping can support higher levels of ecosystem services such as soil microbial habitat, plant-soil mutualism, nutrient cycling, and soil carbon storage compared to phosphorus-fertilized monoculture. Intercropping could optimize the delivery of soil diversity and multiple ecosystem services override phosphorus, including microbial diversity, weighted ecosystem services, productivity stability and sustainability, and soil microbial habitat were 5–30 times higher, respectively. Unfertilized intercropping also helped to reduce important tradeoffs between productivity and soil microbial diversity compared with fertilized monoculture. Together, our results provide evidence that intercropping can optimize crop use of phosphorus, and promote multiple important ecosystem services, which can help alleviate global dependence on nonrenewable, and often environmentally deleterious fertilizer inputs.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141486864","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Weeds are a major threat in tropical regions where climate conditions favor their growth and development. This is particularly true in low-input rice-based cropping systems in the Malagasy highlands, where weed management is mainly done by manual removal. Crop rotation is often promoted as an efficient way to control weed infestations, while the role of fertilization is more controversial. In this study, we compared rice monoculture to three rainfed rice-based two-year rotations: rice followed by groundnut, rice followed by sorghum-cowpea mixture, and rice followed by a velvet-bean crotalaria mixture. Each rotation was tested with two levels of fertilization (5 t DM ha−1 organic manure, sole or in combination with mineral fertilizer - 400 kg ha−1 NPK + 200 kg ha−1 urea). We assessed the effect of rotation and fertilization on weed composition, diversity, biomass and rice yield. Additionally, the farmers’ perception of weed harmfulness and the relation between their assessment of weed harmfulness and rice production was tested. Our results showed that weed biomass significantly decreased rice yield but only under the low fertilization level. The rotation of rice with the velvet bean-crotalaria mixture was efficient in reducing weed biomass, modified weed community composition and allowed to achieve the highest rice yield. A significant negative relationship was found between weed community harmfulness index and weed species richness. Yet, the lowest rice yield was observed under rice monoculture despite a higher species richness over years and under high fertilization level. The lack of significant correlation between the harmfulness index and the actual rice yield is probably because our index is partly based on farmer’s perception, and only on major weeds. More studies on tropical weed harmfulness are needed to support the design of ecologically intensified cropping systems.
{"title":"Do rotation and fertilization practices shape weed communities and affect rice yield in low input rainfed agroecosystems in the Malagasy highlands?","authors":"Aude Ripoche , Karim Barkaoui , Nina Allouch , Mathias Christina , Benjamin Heuclin , Antsa Rafenomanjato , Anna-Camilla Moonen , Patrice Autfray , Pascal Marnotte","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109136","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2024.109136","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Weeds are a major threat in tropical regions where climate conditions favor their growth and development. This is particularly true in low-input rice-based cropping systems in the Malagasy highlands, where weed management is mainly done by manual removal. Crop rotation is often promoted as an efficient way to control weed infestations, while the role of fertilization is more controversial. In this study, we compared rice monoculture to three rainfed rice-based two-year rotations: rice followed by groundnut, rice followed by sorghum-cowpea mixture, and rice followed by a velvet-bean crotalaria mixture. Each rotation was tested with two levels of fertilization (5 t DM ha<sup>−1</sup> organic manure, sole or in combination with mineral fertilizer - 400 kg ha<sup>−1</sup> NPK + 200 kg ha<sup>−1</sup> urea). We assessed the effect of rotation and fertilization on weed composition, diversity, biomass and rice yield. Additionally, the farmers’ perception of weed harmfulness and the relation between their assessment of weed harmfulness and rice production was tested. Our results showed that weed biomass significantly decreased rice yield but only under the low fertilization level. The rotation of rice with the velvet bean-crotalaria mixture was efficient in reducing weed biomass, modified weed community composition and allowed to achieve the highest rice yield. A significant negative relationship was found between weed community harmfulness index and weed species richness. Yet, the lowest rice yield was observed under rice monoculture despite a higher species richness over years and under high fertilization level. The lack of significant correlation between the harmfulness index and the actual rice yield is probably because our index is partly based on farmer’s perception, and only on major weeds. More studies on tropical weed harmfulness are needed to support the design of ecologically intensified cropping systems.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880924002548/pdfft?md5=b8dc773169dd18e3c8569cc519a779ae&pid=1-s2.0-S0167880924002548-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141483698","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-28DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2024.109127
Junjun Wu , Long Chen , Hong Zhang , Xiaoxiang Zhao , Xiaoli Cheng , Kerong Zhang , Guihua Liu
The fluxes of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) between soils and atmosphere play vital roles in regulating climate change and global carbon cycling. There is evidence that CH4 uptake and CO2 emission are correlated on the plot scale. However, it remains unclear whether the fluxes of these two greenhouse gases are tightly linked on temporal and large spatial scales in upland ecosystems. Here, through three independent approaches (in-situ observation, data extracted from ten typical field experiments, and a global meta-analysis), we found that soil CH4 uptake rate was positively associated with soil CO2 emission rate on a temporal scale over two years in our in-situ experiments. Data extracted from other typical field experiments verified that the tight linkage between soil CH4 uptake and CO2 emission on a temporal scale was common, even after the effects of soil temperature and moisture were removed. Moreover, a global meta-analysis further confirmed that the tight linkage between the fluxes of these two greenhouse gases also exists on a large spatial scale. Model selection analysis and structural equation modelling all verified that soil CO2 emission rate was the key predictor for soil CH4 uptake rate after accounting for several important factors, such as climate and soil properties. The estimated annual global forest soil CH4 sink based on our findings is 19.70 ± 6.37 Tg C yr−1. The tight linkage between soil CH4 uptake and CO2 emission rate on temporal and spatial scales we found in this study open new insights to easily model soil CH4 uptake based on soil CO2 emission measurement, since it is easier and more cost-efficient to measure than CH4 flux. Overall, our study highlights the role of soil CO2 emissions in predicting soil CH4 uptake, which should be taken into consideration for global CH4 budget quantification.
甲烷(CH4)和二氧化碳(CO2)在土壤和大气之间的通量对调节气候变化和全球碳循环起着至关重要的作用。有证据表明,在地块尺度上,甲烷(CH4)的吸收和二氧化碳(CO2)的排放是相关的。然而,在高地生态系统中,这两种温室气体的通量是否在时间和大空间尺度上紧密相关,目前仍不清楚。在这里,我们通过三种独立的方法(原位观测、从十个典型田间试验中提取的数据以及全球荟萃分析)发现,在我们的原位实验中,土壤甲烷吸收率与土壤二氧化碳排放率在时间尺度上呈正相关,时间跨度为两年。从其他典型野外实验中提取的数据证实,即使剔除了土壤温度和湿度的影响,土壤甲烷吸收率与二氧化碳排放量在时间尺度上的紧密联系也是普遍存在的。此外,一项全球荟萃分析进一步证实,这两种温室气体通量之间的紧密联系在大空间尺度上也同样存在。模型选择分析和结构方程建模均证实,在考虑了气候和土壤特性等几个重要因素后,土壤二氧化碳排放率是预测土壤甲烷吸收率的关键因素。根据我们的研究结果,估计全球森林土壤 CH4 年吸收汇为 19.70 ± 6.37 Tg C yr-1。本研究发现的土壤 CH4 吸收量与 CO2 排放量之间在时间和空间尺度上的紧密联系为基于土壤 CO2 排放量测量建立土壤 CH4 吸收量模型提供了新的视角,因为与 CH4 通量相比,CH4 吸收量更容易测量,成本效益更高。总之,我们的研究强调了土壤二氧化碳排放量在预测土壤甲烷吸收量中的作用,这一点应在全球甲烷预算量化中加以考虑。
{"title":"Soil methane uptake is tightly linked to carbon dioxide emission in global upland ecosystems","authors":"Junjun Wu , Long Chen , Hong Zhang , Xiaoxiang Zhao , Xiaoli Cheng , Kerong Zhang , Guihua Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109127","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2024.109127","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The fluxes of methane (CH<sub>4</sub>) and carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) between soils and atmosphere play vital roles in regulating climate change and global carbon cycling. There is evidence that CH<sub>4</sub> uptake and CO<sub>2</sub> emission are correlated on the plot scale. However, it remains unclear whether the fluxes of these two greenhouse gases are tightly linked on temporal and large spatial scales in upland ecosystems. Here, through three independent approaches (in-situ observation, data extracted from ten typical field experiments, and a global meta-analysis), we found that soil CH<sub>4</sub> uptake rate was positively associated with soil CO<sub>2</sub> emission rate on a temporal scale over two years in our in-situ experiments. Data extracted from other typical field experiments verified that the tight linkage between soil CH<sub>4</sub> uptake and CO<sub>2</sub> emission on a temporal scale was common, even after the effects of soil temperature and moisture were removed. Moreover, a global meta-analysis further confirmed that the tight linkage between the fluxes of these two greenhouse gases also exists on a large spatial scale. Model selection analysis and structural equation modelling all verified that soil CO<sub>2</sub> emission rate was the key predictor for soil CH<sub>4</sub> uptake rate after accounting for several important factors, such as climate and soil properties. The estimated annual global forest soil CH<sub>4</sub> sink based on our findings is 19.70 ± 6.37 Tg C yr<sup>−1</sup>. The tight linkage between soil CH<sub>4</sub> uptake and CO<sub>2</sub> emission rate on temporal and spatial scales we found in this study open new insights to easily model soil CH<sub>4</sub> uptake based on soil CO<sub>2</sub> emission measurement, since it is easier and more cost-efficient to measure than CH<sub>4</sub> flux. Overall, our study highlights the role of soil CO<sub>2</sub> emissions in predicting soil CH<sub>4</sub> uptake, which should be taken into consideration for global CH<sub>4</sub> budget quantification.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141486761","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-28DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2024.109134
Maldwyn John Evans , Richard Beggs , Ben C. Scheele , Clare Crane , Eleanor Lang , Angelina Siegrist , Daniel Florance , David Smith , Martino E. Malerba , David B. Lindenmayer
Artificial water bodies in agricultural landscapes (hereafter ‘farm dams’) are established primarily to support livestock and crop production but also provide habitats for a wide range of native species. Managing water quality in farm dams is essential to animal production and biodiversity. Farm dam enhancement, which includes restricting direct access of stock to dams, can improve water quality in farm dams, by reducing soil erosion and direct faecal contamination, as well as reducing the trampling, grazing, and browsing of vegetation in the immediate catchment. We tested farm dam enhancement as a tool to improve and maintain water quality in 109 farm dams across 34 farms over three years in the sheep-wheat belt of southeast Australia. Using Bayesian Linear Mixed Models, we found that farm dam enhancement significantly reduced levels of phosphorus, nitrogen, turbidity, thermotolerant coliforms, Escherichia coli, and pH. Furthermore, our study revealed links between dam enhancement, increases in vegetation cover, and improved water quality. Our results show that restoration efforts in the surrounds of dams can have positive results on water quality. They highlight the importance of restoration in agricultural landscapes to both agricultural production and biodiversity.
{"title":"Farm dam enhancement significantly improves water quality","authors":"Maldwyn John Evans , Richard Beggs , Ben C. Scheele , Clare Crane , Eleanor Lang , Angelina Siegrist , Daniel Florance , David Smith , Martino E. Malerba , David B. Lindenmayer","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109134","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2024.109134","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Artificial water bodies in agricultural landscapes (hereafter ‘farm dams’) are established primarily to support livestock and crop production but also provide habitats for a wide range of native species. Managing water quality in farm dams is essential to animal production and biodiversity. Farm dam enhancement, which includes restricting direct access of stock to dams, can improve water quality in farm dams, by reducing soil erosion and direct faecal contamination, as well as reducing the trampling, grazing, and browsing of vegetation in the immediate catchment. We tested farm dam enhancement as a tool to improve and maintain water quality in 109 farm dams across 34 farms over three years in the sheep-wheat belt of southeast Australia. Using Bayesian Linear Mixed Models, we found that farm dam enhancement significantly reduced levels of phosphorus, nitrogen, turbidity, thermotolerant coliforms, <em>Escherichia coli</em>, and pH. Furthermore, our study revealed links between dam enhancement, increases in vegetation cover, and improved water quality. Our results show that restoration efforts in the surrounds of dams can have positive results on water quality. They highlight the importance of restoration in agricultural landscapes to both agricultural production and biodiversity.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880924002524/pdfft?md5=0d443d7d8d750c35b39a2c9a600cf1cf&pid=1-s2.0-S0167880924002524-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141483704","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-27DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2024.109114
Paul Rouveyrol , Marie-Caroline Prima
Agriculture intensification is one of the most impacting drivers of European biodiversity decline. The Natura 2000 (N2000) network constitutes a key tool for conservation of species and natural habitats in Europe. Its action to counteract negative impacts of agriculture is mainly based on implementation of Agri-environment schemes (AES) in the N2000 sites. As economical resources are usually limited, spatial targeting is essential for such conservation policy. Here we evaluated whether AES distribution was in spatial coordination with species and habitat conservation states, and agriculture-driven pressures in the French N2000 network. Using the Pressure-State-Response framework, we tested the hypothesis that AES were mainly implemented in sites mostly exposed to pressures, having higher representativeness of species and habitats and higher degradation levels. We combined different sources of information (i.e., standard data forms of the N2000 policy, data collected by the observatory of rural development and national geographical information) to produce pressure, state and response spatial indicators. We declined the analysis per category of pressures related to agricultural activities and considered species and habitat vulnerability to each pressure category. We found limited spatial coordination between AES, pressure and state variables: only 37 % of the fitted models were significant. Significant relationships between AES implementation and agricultural intensification pressure were mostly negative. Considering all indicators, our hypotheses were disproven for more than half of the significant relationships. The results revealed a spatial mismatch between AES distribution and the ecological needs within the N2000 network, as more resources were devoted to sites less exposed to pressure. Our results raise the need of a more strategic approach for the N2000 policy. Indeed, the state of biodiversity conservation and the level of human pressures should be automatically considered a-priori of any implementation of management measures to effectively focus the efforts on the causes of current biodiversity crisis.
{"title":"Do agri-environmental schemes target effectively species, habitats and pressures in French Natura 2000 network?","authors":"Paul Rouveyrol , Marie-Caroline Prima","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109114","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2024.109114","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Agriculture intensification is one of the most impacting drivers of European biodiversity decline. The Natura 2000 (N2000) network constitutes a key tool for conservation of species and natural habitats in Europe. Its action to counteract negative impacts of agriculture is mainly based on implementation of Agri-environment schemes (AES) in the N2000 sites. As economical resources are usually limited, spatial targeting is essential for such conservation policy. Here we evaluated whether AES distribution was in spatial coordination with species and habitat conservation states, and agriculture-driven pressures in the French N2000 network. Using the Pressure-State-Response framework, we tested the hypothesis that AES were mainly implemented in sites mostly exposed to pressures, having higher representativeness of species and habitats and higher degradation levels. We combined different sources of information (i.e., standard data forms of the N2000 policy, data collected by the observatory of rural development and national geographical information) to produce pressure, state and response spatial indicators. We declined the analysis per category of pressures related to agricultural activities and considered species and habitat vulnerability to each pressure category. We found limited spatial coordination between AES, pressure and state variables: only 37 % of the fitted models were significant. Significant relationships between AES implementation and agricultural intensification pressure were mostly negative. Considering all indicators, our hypotheses were disproven for more than half of the significant relationships. The results revealed a spatial mismatch between AES distribution and the ecological needs within the N2000 network, as more resources were devoted to sites less exposed to pressure. Our results raise the need of a more strategic approach for the N2000 policy. Indeed, the state of biodiversity conservation and the level of human pressures should be automatically considered a-priori of any implementation of management measures to effectively focus the efforts on the causes of current biodiversity crisis.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880924002329/pdfft?md5=04d184022269b45fc998ca1795db84ba&pid=1-s2.0-S0167880924002329-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141483684","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nitrogen pollution has increased dramatically over the last decades, becoming a major contributor to biodiversity loss and compositional changes globally. While the main effects of excessive nutrients on plant communities are well established, Mediterranean grasslands have been less studied despite their high levels of biodiversity. Moreover, evidence has shown that the impacts of nutrients may depend on additional factors, namely soil conditions and grazing, increasing the uncertainty about the effects of increasing nutrient availability in these systems. In this work, we assessed the short-term effects (1 year) of fertilization in an extensively grazed oak open woodland (called montado, or dehesa), in Spain. Plots comprised a complete randomized design with four treatments: control (not fertilized), fertilization with nitrogen at a rate of 100 kg N ha−1, fertilization with phosphorous (50 kg P ha−1) and fertilization with both N and P (100 kg ha−1 N + 50 kg ha−1 P). We assessed changes in plant species composition and functional diversity and evaluated the association between species and fertilization treatments with an indicator species analysis. Our results showed that species diversity increased with NP fertilization and that forbs in particular increased in cover and richness. SLA and seed mass also showed differences compared to the control. The Community-weighted mean and functional dispersion of groups based on growth form and N-fixing ability were not influenced by fertilization. Two species were significantly associated with fertilized plots: the spiny forb Carlina racemosa and the latex-producing forb Tolpis barbata. Our study suggests that short-term fertilization may alleviate nutrient limitations in these systems, increasing plant diversity, although longer-term studies are needed to understand the effects of a continuous increase in nutrient availability.
{"title":"Grasses don’t always win: Short-term effects of fertilization on taxonomic and functional diversity of a Mediterranean annual grassland","authors":"Melanie Köbel , Sergio Chozas , Gerardo Moreno , Mirco Migliavacca , Cristina Branquinho , Alice Nunes","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109125","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2024.109125","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Nitrogen pollution has increased dramatically over the last decades, becoming a major contributor to biodiversity loss and compositional changes globally. While the main effects of excessive nutrients on plant communities are well established, Mediterranean grasslands have been less studied despite their high levels of biodiversity. Moreover, evidence has shown that the impacts of nutrients may depend on additional factors, namely soil conditions and grazing, increasing the uncertainty about the effects of increasing nutrient availability in these systems. In this work, we assessed the short-term effects (1 year) of fertilization in an extensively grazed oak open woodland (called <em>montado</em>, or <em>dehesa</em>), in Spain. Plots comprised a complete randomized design with four treatments: control (not fertilized), fertilization with nitrogen at a rate of 100 kg N ha<sup>−1</sup>, fertilization with phosphorous (50 kg P ha<sup>−1</sup>) and fertilization with both N and P (100 kg ha<sup>−1</sup> N + 50 kg ha<sup>−1</sup> P). We assessed changes in plant species composition and functional diversity and evaluated the association between species and fertilization treatments with an indicator species analysis. Our results showed that species diversity increased with NP fertilization and that forbs in particular increased in cover and richness. SLA and seed mass also showed differences compared to the control. The Community-weighted mean and functional dispersion of groups based on growth form and N-fixing ability were not influenced by fertilization. Two species were significantly associated with fertilized plots: the spiny forb <em>Carlina racemosa</em> and the latex-producing forb <em>Tolpis barbata</em>. Our study suggests that short-term fertilization may alleviate nutrient limitations in these systems, increasing plant diversity, although longer-term studies are needed to understand the effects of a continuous increase in nutrient availability.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880924002433/pdfft?md5=b6f5e76c11a5fd6551050499c4596710&pid=1-s2.0-S0167880924002433-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141483702","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Fall armyworm (FAW) is a multi-generational invasive insect pest of maize. Field experiments were conducted in diverse ecologies at Hyderabad, Telangana (Location 1); Dholi, Bihar (Location 2); Kolhapur, Maharashtra (Location 3) during the rainy season from July-November, 2023 to assess the impact of maize intercropping with legumes and leafy vegetables on FAW damage, abundance of beneficial insects, weed dynamics, and yield. In the present study, location-specific intercrops were selected for the experimentation. In location 1, maize intercropped with cowpea followed by groundnut reduced the level of FAW infestation compared to sole maize. The increased natural enemy population (coccinellids, spiders, earwigs); weed suppression, and higher yields were observed in maize when intercropped with cowpea followed by groundnut and red amaranthus. In location 2, maize intercropped with cowpea followed by green gram and black gram reduced the FAW damage and higher natural enemy population. Maximum yield was obtained in maize intercropped with black gram followed by green gram and cowpea. However, concerning weed suppression and cost-benefit ratio, green gram followed by black gram was found to be superior. Minimum FAW infestation, abundant natural enemy population, weed suppression, and improved economic returns were observed in maize when intercropped with cowpea followed by groundnut and fenugreek in location 3. Each intercrop had its advantages concerning pests, weed suppression, an abundance of natural enemy populations, and higher yields. Therefore, it is suggested that the selection of plants as intercrops with maize should be based on the location-specific importance of particular aspects to attain multifunctional benefits. The present results revealed that crop diversification with location-specific intercrops can reduce significant yield losses caused by FAW and promote higher yields in maize.
{"title":"Intercropping in maize reduces fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) infestation, supports natural enemies, and enhances yield","authors":"P. Lakshmi Soujanya , K. VaniSree , Gouri Shankar Giri , Sushant Mahadik , S.L. Jat , J.C. Sekhar , H.S. Jat","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109130","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2024.109130","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Fall armyworm (FAW) is a multi-generational invasive insect pest of maize. Field experiments were conducted in diverse ecologies at Hyderabad, Telangana (Location 1); Dholi, Bihar (Location 2); Kolhapur, Maharashtra (Location 3) during the rainy season from July-November, 2023 to assess the impact of maize intercropping with legumes and leafy vegetables on FAW damage, abundance of beneficial insects, weed dynamics, and yield. In the present study, location-specific intercrops were selected for the experimentation. In location 1, maize intercropped with cowpea followed by groundnut reduced the level of FAW infestation compared to sole maize. The increased natural enemy population (coccinellids, spiders, earwigs); weed suppression, and higher yields were observed in maize when intercropped with cowpea followed by groundnut and red amaranthus. In location 2, maize intercropped with cowpea followed by green gram and black gram reduced the FAW damage and higher natural enemy population. Maximum yield was obtained in maize intercropped with black gram followed by green gram and cowpea. However, concerning weed suppression and cost-benefit ratio, green gram followed by black gram was found to be superior. Minimum FAW infestation, abundant natural enemy population, weed suppression, and improved economic returns were observed in maize when intercropped with cowpea followed by groundnut and fenugreek in location 3. Each intercrop had its advantages concerning pests, weed suppression, an abundance of natural enemy populations, and higher yields. Therefore, it is suggested that the selection of plants as intercrops with maize should be based on the location-specific importance of particular aspects to attain multifunctional benefits. The present results revealed that crop diversification with location-specific intercrops can reduce significant yield losses caused by FAW and promote higher yields in maize.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141483683","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-26DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2024.109132
Fengjuan Pan , Haidong Gu , Zhuxiu Liu , Yueyu Sui , Neil B. McLaughlin , Junjie Liu , Guanghua Wang
Understanding soil biodiversity response to land use change is crucial for predicting and preserving soil ecological functions and health under anthropogenic influence. Yet, the overall effect of land use changes and climate conditions on belowground biodiversity remains insufficiently explored at large scales. Here, we studied the effect of conversion from natural soils to agricultural soils on soil nematode diversity and community assembly across the Mollisol zone in northeast China. We found that nematode alpha diversity decreased in agricultural soils, and nematode alpha diversity did not exhibit a regular change with latitudinal variation. For beta diversity, we found that nematode community structures were significantly affected by land use change. Furthermore, climatic factors and geographic distance significantly impacted the beta diversity of soil nematodes, but not the alpha diversity. Mean annual temperature was a primary climatic determinant of soil nematode communities, while the effect of mean annual precipitation on soil nematode beta diversity was only observed in agricultural soils. Stochastic processes dominated soil nematode community assembly, but agricultural soils increased the importance of deterministic processes compared to natural soils. There is no any expected variation in soil nematode alpha diversity along the Mollisol zone. Our findings highlight the crucial role of temperature in driving soil nematode communities.
{"title":"Land use and temperature shape the beta diversity of soil nematodes across the Mollisol zone in northeast China","authors":"Fengjuan Pan , Haidong Gu , Zhuxiu Liu , Yueyu Sui , Neil B. McLaughlin , Junjie Liu , Guanghua Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109132","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2024.109132","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Understanding soil biodiversity response to land use change is crucial for predicting and preserving soil ecological functions and health under anthropogenic influence. Yet, the overall effect of land use changes and climate conditions on belowground biodiversity remains insufficiently explored at large scales. Here, we studied the effect of conversion from natural soils to agricultural soils on soil nematode diversity and community assembly across the Mollisol zone in northeast China. We found that nematode alpha diversity decreased in agricultural soils, and nematode alpha diversity did not exhibit a regular change with latitudinal variation. For beta diversity, we found that nematode community structures were significantly affected by land use change. Furthermore, climatic factors and geographic distance significantly impacted the beta diversity of soil nematodes, but not the alpha diversity. Mean annual temperature was a primary climatic determinant of soil nematode communities, while the effect of mean annual precipitation on soil nematode beta diversity was only observed in agricultural soils. Stochastic processes dominated soil nematode community assembly, but agricultural soils increased the importance of deterministic processes compared to natural soils. There is no any expected variation in soil nematode alpha diversity along the Mollisol zone. Our findings highlight the crucial role of temperature in driving soil nematode communities.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141483703","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Non-point source pollution water erosion caused by sugarcane planting on sloping land is a serious environmental problem in tropical and subtropical regions. The adjustment of sugarcane planting patterns (ratio of perennial to new planting areas) will affect slope soil erosion. However, the relationship between the contribution of sugarcane land to river pollution load and the planting years of ratoon sugarcane remains unclear. To quantitatively analyse the contribution of sugarcane fields to eroded sediment nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) loads into the river in different ratoon years and growing seasons, this study was conducted in the intensive sugarcane cultivation area of the southern subtropical Guangxi Nala sub watershed, using the specific compound specific stable isotope (CSSI) traceability technology and real-time monitoring in the watershed. The changes of N and P loading of sugarcane soil erosion and sediment into the river was determined at different ratoon years (RS0-RS3) in addition to the related influencing factors. The results showed that the influence of different ratoon years on the N and P input loads of eroded sediment from sugarcane fields was significantly greater than that of runoff. The contribution of different ratoon sugarcane planting years (including root density) to the loads of sediment N and P into the river was 67.1 % (p < 0.01), which was 2.8 times that of runoff (24.3 %) (p < 0.05). With increasing ratoon sugarcane planting years, the N and P loads of sediment into the river from the sugarcane land decreased significantly; the ratoon sugarcane planting years showed a highly significant negative correlation with the N loads of sediment into the river from the sugarcane fields (p < 0.01), and a significant negative correlation with P (p < 0.05) was observed. Newly planted sugarcane contributed the most to the N and P sediment loads into the river at the seedling stage and the least at the maturity stage. Therefore, in the intensive sugarcane planting areas, to effectively control erosion-induced non-point source pollution, perennial sugarcane planting areas should be rationally in the newly planted sugarcane fields, especially at the seedling stage, to increase land surface cover.
{"title":"Contribution of the ratoon sugarcane with planting years to river pollution evidenced from the four-year watershed observation","authors":"Tingting Chen , Yong Li , Zongmeng Wu , Hao Guo , Zhigang Huang","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109099","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2024.109099","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Non-point source pollution water erosion caused by sugarcane planting on sloping land is a serious environmental problem in tropical and subtropical regions. The adjustment of sugarcane planting patterns (ratio of perennial to new planting areas) will affect slope soil erosion. However, the relationship between the contribution of sugarcane land to river pollution load and the planting years of ratoon sugarcane remains unclear. To quantitatively analyse the contribution of sugarcane fields to eroded sediment nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) loads into the river in different ratoon years and growing seasons, this study was conducted in the intensive sugarcane cultivation area of the southern subtropical Guangxi Nala sub watershed, using the specific compound specific stable isotope (CSSI) traceability technology and real-time monitoring in the watershed. The changes of N and P loading of sugarcane soil erosion and sediment into the river was determined at different ratoon years (RS<sub>0</sub>-RS<sub>3</sub>) in addition to the related influencing factors. The results showed that the influence of different ratoon years on the N and P input loads of eroded sediment from sugarcane fields was significantly greater than that of runoff. The contribution of different ratoon sugarcane planting years (including root density) to the loads of sediment N and P into the river was 67.1 % (p < 0.01), which was 2.8 times that of runoff (24.3 %) (p < 0.05). With increasing ratoon sugarcane planting years, the N and P loads of sediment into the river from the sugarcane land decreased significantly; the ratoon sugarcane planting years showed a highly significant negative correlation with the N loads of sediment into the river from the sugarcane fields (p < 0.01), and a significant negative correlation with P (p < 0.05) was observed. Newly planted sugarcane contributed the most to the N and P sediment loads into the river at the seedling stage and the least at the maturity stage. Therefore, in the intensive sugarcane planting areas, to effectively control erosion-induced non-point source pollution, perennial sugarcane planting areas should be rationally in the newly planted sugarcane fields, especially at the seedling stage, to increase land surface cover.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141483700","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-25DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2024.109131
Richard C. Hayes , Guangdi D. Li , Rowan W. Smith , Mark B. Peoples , Richard P. Rawnsley , Matthew T. Newell , Keith G. Pembleton
Establishing multi-species swards is a common objective in agricultural forage production systems around the world. Managing pasture productivity and sward resilience is especially challenging in semi-arid environments where mixtures of perennial and self-regenerating annual species are expected to co-exist while growing in competition under water-limited conditions. This review explores the implications of competition dynamics and the practice of changing row configuration at sowing as a prospective approach to managing the composition and productivity of multi-species swards. It uses three test case species representing different functional groups, including the perennial legume, lucerne (alfalfa; Medicago sativa L.), the perennial grass, phalaris (harding grass; Phalaris aquatica L.) and the self-regenerating annual legume, subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.). Early field studies showed consistent benefits of separating subterranean clover from other sward components at sowing, in terms of foliage dry matter and regeneration density of that species. However, total sward productivity either remained unchanged or declined compared to where all species were planted in the same drill row, especially where forage species were sown with grain cover crops. This is explained by a basic principle of ecology where dominant species drive total production in a short-term ecosystem such as a phased pasture. Constraining dominant species to fewer drill rows at sowing limited their production due to a transient restriction in resources, such as light. It is concluded that separating species in drill rows is a useful strategy for improving the abundance of transient or subordinate species when grown in mixtures with dominant species. However, to avoid perverse outcomes, care is required to ensure that the productivity of the dominant species is not compromised. Practical implications point towards maintaining the number of drill rows to which dominant species are sown. Further research is required to minimise drill row spacing, thus maximising the number of drill rows and increasing early plant coverage on a given area of land. The legacy effect of the pasture drill row is also highlighted, with most species remaining close to the original drill row for the life of a 3-year pasture phase in semi-arid environments. Increased concentration of plants led to enduring benefits in soil fertility, microbial diversity and abundance compared to the inter-row area, findings that warrant closer examination under a greater range of soil and climatic conditions.
{"title":"Prospects for improving productivity and composition of mixed swards in semi-arid environments by separating species in drill rows – A review","authors":"Richard C. Hayes , Guangdi D. Li , Rowan W. Smith , Mark B. Peoples , Richard P. Rawnsley , Matthew T. Newell , Keith G. Pembleton","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109131","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2024.109131","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Establishing multi-species swards is a common objective in agricultural forage production systems around the world. Managing pasture productivity and sward resilience is especially challenging in semi-arid environments where mixtures of perennial and self-regenerating annual species are expected to co-exist while growing in competition under water-limited conditions. This review explores the implications of competition dynamics and the practice of changing row configuration at sowing as a prospective approach to managing the composition and productivity of multi-species swards. It uses three test case species representing different functional groups, including the perennial legume, lucerne (alfalfa; <em>Medicago sativa</em> L.), the perennial grass, phalaris (harding grass; <em>Phalaris aquatica</em> L.) and the self-regenerating annual legume, subterranean clover (<em>Trifolium subterraneum</em> L.). Early field studies showed consistent benefits of separating subterranean clover from other sward components at sowing, in terms of foliage dry matter and regeneration density of that species. However, total sward productivity either remained unchanged or declined compared to where all species were planted in the same drill row, especially where forage species were sown with grain cover crops. This is explained by a basic principle of ecology where dominant species drive total production in a short-term ecosystem such as a phased pasture. Constraining dominant species to fewer drill rows at sowing limited their production due to a transient restriction in resources, such as light. It is concluded that separating species in drill rows is a useful strategy for improving the abundance of transient or subordinate species when grown in mixtures with dominant species. However, to avoid perverse outcomes, care is required to ensure that the productivity of the dominant species is not compromised. Practical implications point towards maintaining the number of drill rows to which dominant species are sown. Further research is required to minimise drill row spacing, thus maximising the number of drill rows and increasing early plant coverage on a given area of land. The legacy effect of the pasture drill row is also highlighted, with most species remaining close to the original drill row for the life of a 3-year pasture phase in semi-arid environments. Increased concentration of plants led to enduring benefits in soil fertility, microbial diversity and abundance compared to the inter-row area, findings that warrant closer examination under a greater range of soil and climatic conditions.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141483699","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}