Temporal Differentiation of Resource Capture and Biomass Accumulation as a Driver of Yield Increase in Intercropping.

ABSTRACT: Intercropping, i.e., the simultaneous cultivation of different crops on the same field, has demonstrated yield advantages compared to monoculture cropping. These yield advantages have often been attributed to complementary resource use, but few studies quantified the temporal complementarity of nutrient acquisition and biomass production. Our understanding of how nutrient uptake rates of nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) and biomass accumulation change throughout the growing season and between different neighbors is limited. We conducted weekly destructive harvests to measure temporal trajectories of N and P uptake and biomass production in three crop species (oat, lupin, and camelina) growing either as isolated single plants, in monocultures or as intercrops. Additionally, we quantified or

SUBMITTER: Engbersen N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8193092 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature