Do Species Mixtures Increase Above- and Belowground Resource Capture in Woody and Herbaceous Tropical Legumes?

2002 ◽  
Vol 94 (3) ◽  
pp. 518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanley M. Gathumbi ◽  
James K. Ndufa ◽  
Ken E. Giller ◽  
Georg Cadisch
2002 ◽  
Vol 94 (3) ◽  
pp. 518-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanley M. Gathumbi ◽  
James K. Ndufa ◽  
Ken E. Giller ◽  
Georg Cadisch

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Suter ◽  
Olivier Huguenin-Elie ◽  
Andreas Lüscher

AbstractAssessing the overall performance of ecosystems requires a quantitative evaluation of multifunctionality. We investigated plant species diversity effects on individual functions and overall multifunctionality in a grassland experiment with sown monocultures and mixtures comprising four key grass and legume species. Nitrogen fertilisation rates were 50, 150, and 450 kg N ha−1 yr−1 (N50, N150, N450). Ten functions were measured representing forage production, N cycling, and forage quality, all being related to either productivity or environmental footprint. Multifunctionality was analysed by a novel approach using the mean log response ratio across functions. Over three experimental years, mixture effects benefited all forage production and N cycling functions, while sustaining high forage quality. Thus, mixture effects did not provoke any trade-off among the analysed functions. High N fertilisation rates generally diminished mixture benefits. Multifunctionality of four-species mixtures was considerably enhanced, and mixture overall performance was up to 1.9 (N50), 1.8 (N150), and 1.6 times (N450) higher than in averaged monocultures. Multifunctionality of four-species mixtures at N50 was at least as high as in grass monocultures at N450. Sown grass–legume mixtures combining few complementary species at low to moderate N fertilisation sustain high multifunctionality and are a ‘ready-to-use’ option for the sustainable intensification of agriculture.


Nature ◽  
1981 ◽  
Vol 294 (5841) ◽  
pp. 516-517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert M. May
Keyword(s):  

Pedosphere ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 317-329
Author(s):  
Chunjie LI ◽  
Thomas W. KUYPER ◽  
Wopke VAN DER WERF ◽  
Junling ZHANG ◽  
Haigang LI ◽  
...  

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