Interactions between Plants and Plant-Soil in Functionally Complex Mixtures including Grass Pea, Faba Bean and Niger, Intercropped with Oilseed Rape

Abstract

Winter oilseed rape (OSR) can be grown intercropped with frost-sensitive service plant mixtures. This practice may reduce weed pressure and contribute to providing N for OSR after service plant freezing. However, there is little knowledge of how plants interact together and with the soil in diverse annual crop mixtures. To assess these interactions, two contrasting legume service plants were selected: faba bean and grass pea, as well as a non-legume, the niger plant. OSR and the legumes were then grown in mesocosms alone or intercropped in mixtures of two to four species. The biomass, N contents, N2 fixation, and soil substrate-induced respiration were measured. A single species mostly drove the total dry biomass and the amount of N accumulated by the cover, OSR and faba bean for dry weight and N contents, respectively. Grass pea was highly sensitive to competition with OSR, and its N2 fixation was lower than that of faba bean. The addition of niger did not lead to additional N2 fixation of legumes or total N accumulation and contributed to reducing OSR biomass. The specific composition of the plant mixture did not explain the soil microorganism activity.

Potential of Sunflower-Legume Intercropping: A Way Forward in Sustainable Production of Sunflower in Temperate Climatic Conditions

“…Research on intercropping has shown that the best combination is when one of the species is from the Fabaceae family. Species from this family are "expected" to be able to create a large aboveground mass, have a strong root system with high absorption capacity, and have moderate nutrition requests, for example, they should be more adaptable to poorer soils and shaded conditions, with high weed suppression and an ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen even in competition conditions, as in intercropping [15][16][17]. Driven by photosynthesis, biological nitrogen fixation by legumes is a significant ecosystem service, which can partially meet the nitrogen needs of other crops in the system, and improve their overall productivity [18].…”

Potential of Sunflower-Legume Intercropping: A Way Forward in Sustainable Production of Sunflower in Temperate Climatic Conditions

“…Species from this family are "expected" to be able to create a large amount of aboveground mass, have a strong root system with high absorption power, and be moderate in nutrition requests e.g. adaptable to poorer soils, adaptable to shaded conditions, with high weed suppression and ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen [14][15][16]. Driven by photosynthesis, biological nitrogen fixation by legumes is a significant ecosystem service, which can partially meet the nitrogen needs of other crops in the system, and improve overall productivity [17].…”

Advances in Molecular Exploration of Crop Plants under Environmental Stresses from Genetic and Genomic Perspectives

“…Agricultural products are also continuously and commonly utilized in multiple fields and systems for various purposes, including developing products necessary and important for engineering and medicines [6][7][8][9]. Fortunately, facilitated by the advent of next-generation DNA sequencing technology and rapid advancement in the multiple "omics" techniques, our knowledge of the interactions among crop plants, soil properties, and soil inhabitants has been significantly advanced from a wide range of perspectives [10][11][12]. Therefore, it is necessary and important to further strengthen the worldwide advancements of the molecular investigations of crop plants and their interactions with the surrounding environments, especially those based on genetic and genomic analyses, and to identify their effective applications and challenges.…”