Weed Diversity Affects Soybean and Maize Yield in a Long Term Experiment in Michigan, USA.

ABSTRACT: Managing production environments in ways that promote weed community diversity may enhance both crop production and the development of a more sustainable agriculture. This study analyzed data of productivity of maize (corn) and soybean in plots in the Main Cropping System Experiment (MCSE) at the W. K. Kellogg Biological Station Long-Term Ecological Research (KBS-LTER) in Michigan, USA, from 1996 to 2011. We used models derived from population ecology to explore how weed diversity, temperature, and precipitation interact with crop yields. Using three types of models that considered internal and external (climate and weeds) factors, with additive or non-linear variants, we found that changes in weed diversity were associated with changes in rates of crop yield increase over time for both ma

SUBMITTER: Ferrero R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5323402 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature