Diversifying crop rotations enhances agroecosystem services and resilience

Liu, Chang; Plaza‐Bonilla, Daniel; Coulter, Jeffrey A.; Kutcher, H. Randy; Beckie, Hugh J.; Wang, Li; Floc’h, Jean-Baptiste; Hamel, Chantal; Siddique, Kadambot H. M.; Li, Lingling; Gan, Yantai

doi:10.1016/bs.agron.2022.02.007

Cited by 59 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 172 publications

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“…Sustainable grazing management is vital to conserve biodiversity and enhance the multiple ecosystem functions (Liu et al, 2019, 2022). Many published studies have shown inconsistent outcomes that the exclusion of grazing, compared to MtH grazing, increases ecosystem services (Qin et al, 2021; Zhang et al, 2021), reduces part of the ecosystem services (Xiang et al, 2021), or has no significant influence on ecosystem functions and service (Hao et al, 2021; Wang et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant biotype interacting grazing activity shapes grassland ecosystem functions

Wang,

Feng,

Sun

et al. 2023

Ecosphere

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Grasslands play an essential role in maintaining the health of planet Earth, but many grasslands have lost their ecosystem services due to unsustainable management practices, such as overgrazing. Little is known about how grazing activity interacts with plant biotypes, impacting grassland ecosystem services. Here, we (1) assessed the relative performance of five plant biotypes in response to grazing activities and (2) determined the effectiveness of grazing exclusion in enhancing soil physiochemical properties in grasslands. The synthesis of 39,214 observations on plant‐, soil‐, and anthropogeny‐related factors from 88 published studies revealed that grazing exclusion increased aboveground plant biomass accumulation by 100.4% (±4.2 SE), belowground biomass by 70.2% (±25.7), total soil C content by 21.4% (±1.7), and soil organic carbon (SOC) concentration by 14.3% (±0.8), on average, as compared to moderate‐to‐heavy (MtH) grazing. Plant biotypes responded to grazing activities differently; alpine meadows increased total soil C content by 107.2%, alpine steppes increased SOC by 52.2%, but desert steppes decreased total C content by 21.8% under the grazing exclusion. All plant biotypes reduced soil bulk density by 6.4%–19.4% under grazing exclusion. Soil microbial community diversity responded to grazing activities inconsistently, ranging from an 18% decrease to a 26% increase in soil microbial diversity compared to MtH grazing. We conclude that selecting appropriate plant biotypes alongside improved grazing management will enhance grassland ecosystem functions and services as plant biotypes affect aboveground and belowground biomass and interface with soil physiochemical properties.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant biotype interacting grazing activity shapes grassland ecosystem functions

Wang,

Feng,

Sun

et al. 2023

Ecosphere

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“…Additionally, wheat grown after a pulse crop had higher protein concentration in the grain, providing protein premium to producers. Also, there are sustainability benefits for wheat grown after pulses in rotation with improved soil fertility and carbon concentration, as well as increased water availability, and enhanced soil microbial benefits (Bainard et al 2017;Hamel et al 2018;Li et al 2019;Liu et al 2022). We did not address these effects in the present study.…”

Section: Annual Rotation Costmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most importantly, the pulse-included, diversified crop rotations have been shown to improve the agroecosystem's productivity and robustness (Li et al 2019;St. Luce et al 2020), enhance the systems stability and resilience (Liu et al 2022;St. Luce et al 2020), and decrease the environmental footprint (Chai et al 2021;Liu et al 2022).…”

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Pulse-included diverse crop rotations improved the systems economic profitability: evidenced in two 4-year cycles of rotation experiments

Khakbazan

Liu

Bandara

et al. 2022

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

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In the recent past, pulse crops have become increasingly important to agricultural producers as they contribute significantly to the economy. However, the research surrounding the economics of pulse crops is limited. This study determined the net returns and risks of 14 different rotations with various frequencies and sequences of pulse crops and quantified the long-term economic effects. An 8-year field experiment (two 4-year rotation cycles) was carried out at Swift Current, Saskatchewan, and Brooks, Alberta, Canada, during 2010–2019. The crops in the rotation included spring and durum wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) (W), field pea (Pisum sativum L.) (P), chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) (C), lentil (Lens culinaris Medik) (L), and Oriental mustard (Brassica juncea L.) (M). Net revenue was estimated and a simulation model was used to conduct the risk-return analysis. Net revenue was significantly different among the 14 rotations, where rotations with either high frequencies of lentil or diverse crops generated the highest net income. More diverse rotations such as P-M-L-W or L-C-P-W provided net income that were statistically comparable to the L-L-L-W rotation and were significantly greater than wheat monoculture systems. Risk analysis suggested that neutral or slightly risk averse producers may select rotations with higher frequencies of lentils, whereas more risk averse producers may prefer more diverse rotations. Inclusion of pulses in a rotation as preceding crops had a positive economic impact on the following non-pulse crops and reduced nitrogen cost by 37%, which can lead to a low carbon footprint. Long-term studies with comprehensive datasets are rare and here for the first time we had two full 4-year cycles of experimental data for 14 diverse rotations at three sites, enabling us to make sound conclusions—adopting diverse cropping rotations that include pulses, especially lentil, can reduce economic risks and improve farm profitability.

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“…Diversified crop rotation (DCR) greatly improves crop production efficiency [1,2]. The use of crop rotation improves soil conditions and increases the productivity of the crop production system.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Common Vetch (Vicia sativa L.) Green Manure on the Yield of Corn in Crop Rotation System

Pál,

Zsombik

2023

Agronomy

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Regenerative farming systems are gaining increasing attention in crop production worldwide. The challenge of the future is to find and apply farming methods that not only reduce the carbon footprint of cultivation, but also produce sustainably through an optimal choice of inputs. We set up our crop rotation experiment in 2019 in order to evaluate the role of common vetch (Vicia sativa L.) as a green manure crop in a crop rotation system. The results were compared with nitrogen fertilizer (80 kg ha−1 N) and control (no green manure and no fertilizer) treatments. Based on the three years of results, it can be concluded that the biomass production capacity of common vetch sown in August is determined by the amount of precipitation in October under continental climatic conditions. In an optimum year for corn, common vetch as a forecrop was found to be equivalent to the effect of fertilizer application at all three applied seed rates, but under stress conditions in a drought year, significantly higher corn yields were obtained when common vetch green manure was applied. Our results suggest a justified role for the use of common vetch green manure in crop rotation systems.

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Diversifying crop rotations enhances agroecosystem services and resilience

Cited by 59 publications

References 172 publications

Plant biotype interacting grazing activity shapes grassland ecosystem functions

Plant biotype interacting grazing activity shapes grassland ecosystem functions

Pulse-included diverse crop rotations improved the systems economic profitability: evidenced in two 4-year cycles of rotation experiments

Effect of Common Vetch (Vicia sativa L.) Green Manure on the Yield of Corn in Crop Rotation System

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