Positive Effects of Crop Diversity on Productivity Driven by Changes in Soil Microbial Composition.

ABSTRACT: Intensive agriculture has major negative impacts on ecosystem diversity and functioning, including that of soils. The associated reduction of soil biodiversity and essential soil functions, such as nutrient cycling, can restrict plant growth and crop yield. By increasing plant diversity in agricultural systems, intercropping could be a promising way to foster soil microbial diversity and functioning. However, plant-microbe interactions and the extent to which they influence crop yield under field conditions are still poorly understood. In this study, we performed an extensive intercropping experiment using eight crop species and 40 different crop mixtures to investigate how crop diversity affects soil microbial diversity and activity, and whether these changes subsequently affect crop yiel

SUBMITTER: Stefan L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8081861 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature