Diversity increases yield but reduces harvest index in crop mixtures.

ABSTRACT: Resource allocation to reproduction is a critical trait for plant fitness^1,2. This trait, called harvest index in the agricultural context^3-5, determines how plant biomass is converted to seed yield and consequently financial revenue from numerous major staple crops. While plant diversity has been demonstrated to increase plant biomass^6-8, plant diversity effects on seed yield of crops are ambiguous⁹ and dependent on the production syndrome¹⁰. This discrepancy might be explained through changes in the proportion of resources invested in reproduction in response to changes in plant diversity, namely through changes in species interactions and microenvironmental conditions^11-14. Here, we show that increasing crop plant diversi

SUBMITTER: Chen J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7611346 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature