Weed suppression greatly increased by plant diversity in intensively managed grasslands: A continental-scale experiment

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2017-09-27
Author
Connolly, John
Sebastià, Ma. T.
Kirwan, Laura
Finn, John A.
Llurba, Rosa
Suter, Matthias
Collins, Rosemary P.
Porqueddu, Claudio
Helgadóttir, Áslaug
Baadshaug, Ole H.
Bélanger, Gilles
Black, Alistair
Brophy, Caroline
Čop, Jure
Dalmannsdóttir, S.
Delgado, Ignacio
Elgersma, Anjo
Fothergill, Michael
Frankow-Lindberg, Bodil E.
Ghesquiere, An
Golinski, Piotr
Grieu, Philippe
Gustavsson, Anne-Maj
Höglind, Mats
Huguenin-Elie, Olivier
Jørgensen, Marit
Kadziuliene, Zydre
Lunnan, Tor
Nykanen-Kurki, P.
Ribas Artola, Àngela
Taube, Friedhelm
Thumm, Ulrich
De Vliegher, A.
Lüscher, Andreas
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Connolly, John; Sebastià, Ma. T.; Kirwan, Laura; Finn, John A.; Llurba, Rosa; Suter, Matthias; ... Lüscher, Andreas. (2017) . Weed suppression greatly increased by plant diversity in intensively managed grasslands: A continental-scale experiment. Journal of Applied Ecology, 2018, vol. 55, núm. 2, p. 852-862. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12991.
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Abstract
1. Grassland diversity can support sustainable intensification of grassland production through increased yields, reduced inputs and limited weed invasion. We report the effects of diversity on weed suppression from 3 years of a 31-site continental-scale field experiment. 2. At each site, 15 grassland communities comprising four monocultures and 11 fourspecies mixtures based on a wide range of species' proportions were sown at two densities and managed by cutting. Forage species were selected according to two crossed functional traits, 'method of nitrogen acquisition' and 'pattern of temporal development'. 3. Across sites, years and sown densities, annual weed biomass in mixtures and monocultures was 0.5 and 2.0 t DM ha−1 (7% and 33% of total biomass respectively). Over 95% of mixtures had weed biomass lower than the average of monocultures, and in twothirds of cases, lower than in the most suppressive monoculture (transgressive suppression). Suppression was significantly transgressive for 58% of site-years. Transgressive suppression by mixtures was maintained across years, independent of site productivity. 4. Based on models, average weed biomass in mixture over the whole experiment was 52% less (95% confidence interval: 30%-75%) than in the most suppressive monoculture. Transgressive suppression of weed biomass was significant at each year across all mixtures and for each mixture. 5. Weed biomass was consistently low across all mixtures and years and was in some cases significantly but not largely different from that in the equiproportional mixture. The average variability (standard deviation) of annual weed biomass within a site was much lower for mixtures (0.42) than for monocultures (1.77). 6. Synthesis and applications. Weed invasion can be diminished through a combination of forage species selected for complementarity and persistence traits in systems designed to reduce reliance on fertiliser nitrogen. In this study, effects of diversity on weed suppression were consistently strong across mixtures varying widely in species' proportions and over time. The level of weed biomass did not vary greatly across mixtures varying widely in proportions of sown species. These diversity benefits in intensively managed grasslands are relevant for the sustainable intensification of agriculture and, importantly, are achievable through practical farm-scale actions. Dades primàries associades a l'article http://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/60559
Related resource
http://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/60559
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/60332
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12991
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Journal of Applied Ecology, 2018, vol. 55, núm. 2, p. 852-862
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cc-by (c) Connolly et al. and British Ecological Society, 2017
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as cc-by (c) Connolly et al. and British Ecological Society, 2017