Microsegregation in Maize Cropping—a Chance to Improve Farmland Biodiversity

Redwitz, Christoph von; Glemnitz, Michael; Hoffmann, Jörg; Brose, Ruth; Verch, Gernot; Barkusky, Dietmar; Saure, Christoph; Berger, Gert; Bellingrath-Kimura, Sonoko D.

doi:10.1007/s10343-019-00457-7

Cited by 19 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…The high species diversity of both WPMs (Figures , Tables ; Table S3) was in accordance with both findings from other studies (Vollrath et al, ; von Cossel & Lewandowski, ; Von Redwitz et al, ; Wurth et al, ; Zürcher et al, ) and observations by farmers who have cultivated WPM for 8 years (Frick & Pfender, ). The high diversity of WPM is known to have positive effects on both above‐ and belowground fauna (Carlsson et al, ; Emmerling, ; Vollrath et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Nevertheless, the spaces between maize rows in E2 were almost covered completely by WPM species during the vegetation period of year 2014. Most of these WPM species also developed inflorescences (Figure 2c,e) and thus improved soil cover compared to mono-cropped maize (von Redwitz et al, 2019).…”

Section: Biodiversity Effects Of the Wpmmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Maize is known to be highly suitable for intercropping and functioning as a nurse crop (von Cossel et al, 2019;von Cossel, Möhring, Kiesel, & Lewandowski, 2017). Von Redwitz et al (2019) investigated the establishment of wildflower strips under maize in eastern Germany. They found these to (a) reduce maize yield by about 30%, (b) benefit pollinators and ground beetles, and (c) improve the habitat quality for ground-nesting, open-land birds such as skylark (Von Redwitz et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Von Redwitz et al () investigated the establishment of wildflower strips under maize in eastern Germany. They found these to (a) reduce maize yield by about 30%, (b) benefit pollinators and ground beetles, and (c) improve the habitat quality for ground‐nesting, open‐land birds such as skylark (Von Redwitz et al, ). Brauckmann and Broll () examined both the economic and ecological aspects of WPM establishment under maize in eastern Germany over a 3 year cultivation period.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Methane yield and species diversity dynamics of perennial wild plant mixtures established alone, under cover crop maize (Zea mays L.), and after spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)

et al. 2019

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The cultivation of perennial wild plant mixtures (WPMs) in biogas cropping systems dominated by maize (Zea mays L.) restores numerous ecosystem functions and improves both spatial and temporal agrobiodiversity. In addition, the colorful appearance of WPM can help enhance landscape beauty. However, their methane yield per hectare (MYH) varies greatly and amounts to only about 50% that of maize. This study aimed at decreasing MYH variability and increasing accumulated MYH of WPM by optimizing the establishment method. A field trial was established in southwest Germany in 2014, and is still running. It tested the effects of three WPM establishment procedures (E1: alone [without maize, in May], E2: undersown in cover crop maize [in May], E3: WPM sown after whole‐crop harvest of spring barley [Hordeum vulgare L.] in June) on both MYH and species diversity of two WPMs [S1, S2]). Mono‐cropped maize and cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum L.) were used as reference crops. Of the WPM treatments tested, S2E2 achieved the highest (19,296 normalmnormalN3/ha, 60.5% of maize) and S1E1 the lowest accumulated MYH (8,156 normalmnormalN3/ha, 25.6% of maize) in the years 2014–2018. Cup plant yielded slightly higher than S2E2 (19,968 normalmnormalN3/ha, 62.6% of maize). In 2014, the WPM sown under maize did not significantly affect the cover crop performance. From 2015 onward, E1 and E2 had comparable average annual MYH and average annual number of WPM species. With a similar accumulated MYH but significantly higher number of species (3.5–10.2), WPM S2E2 outperformed cup plant. Overall, the long‐term MYH performance of WPM cultivation for biogas production can be significantly improved by undersowing with maize as cover crop. This improved establishment method could help facilitate the implementation of WPM cultivation for biogas production and thus reduce the trade‐off between bioenergy and biodiversity.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Biodiversity Effects Of the Wpmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Methane yield and species diversity dynamics of perennial wild plant mixtures established alone, under cover crop maize (Zea mays L.), and after spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)

et al. 2019

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“…This is because biogas production is increasingly associated with monotonous maize cultivation, and is thus associated with the problems of its cultivation. Maize cultivation (i) reduces pest suppression services by predatory insects, (ii) provides fewer ecosystem services than perennial biomass crops, (iii) is labor intensive compared with perennial biomass crops, and (iv) hardly adds any aesthetic value to the landscape . In light of this, the EPH decided to replace the annual cropping system, including maize and other annual crops, with a perennial cropping system.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The replacement of maize (Zea mays L.) by cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum L.) as biogas substrate and its implications for the energy and material flows of a large biogas plant

Cossel

Amarysti

Wilhelm

et al. 2020

Biofuels Bioprod Bioref

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Excessive cultivation of maize (Zea mays L.) as a biogas substrate has fired debate about potential land‐use change effects of bioenergy cropping systems. Cup plant ( Silphium perfoliatum L.) is a perennial biogas crop that provides more environmental services than maize. This study investigated (i) how to replace maize with cup plant as a biogas substrate in a large‐scale biogas plant located in southwest Germany, and (ii) how to optimize the energy and material cycles of such a biogas plant given the new feedstock. The biogas plant produces 1000 m3 biogas per hour with plans for it to be combined with a large dairy farm (1000 dairy units). It was found that the substitution of maize with cup plant as a biogas substrate results in a methane yield reduction of 10% to 20% due to lower biomass yields. However, there exists a strong potential to increase both biomass yields and biogas substrate quality of cup plant by optimizing establishment procedures and better genotypes. Furthermore, cup plant provides food and shelter for open land animals, including birds and insects, and could hence be a suitable alternative to maize for large biogas plants, being more environmentally beneficial. Extracting proteins from cup‐plant biomass could also help replace soy with locally produced protein for feeding cattle. Hydrothermal carbonization is a promising tool for closing nutrient cycles and for extracting phosphate from digestate, but more research is needed before it can be put into practice. © 2020 The Authors. Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining published by Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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How to promote multifunctionality of vegetated strips in arable farming: A qualitative approach for Germany

et al. 2022

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Vegetated strips are in the focus of many stakeholders of agroecosystems and are part of several agri-environmental schemes in Germany. Stakeholders have different expectations and demands on the functionality and services of vegetated strips. In our review, we focused on biodiversity and the ecosystem services pollination, conservation biocontrol, landscape aesthetics, buffer function, and biomass production and their associated functions. We assessed factors that are crucial to support service provision and reviewed trade-offs between the ecosystem (dis)services. We identified five characteristics that are important for the provision of the assessed ecosystem services: age of vegetated strips, flower cover, size or width of the strip, management, and type of adjacent habitat. We conclude that adjusting the target of subsidies with respect to the analyzed factors for biodiversity can help to promote the multifunctionality of vegetated strips in arable farming.

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Microsegregation in Maize Cropping—a Chance to Improve Farmland Biodiversity

Cited by 19 publications

References 33 publications

Methane yield and species diversity dynamics of perennial wild plant mixtures established alone, under cover crop maize (Zea mays L.), and after spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)

Methane yield and species diversity dynamics of perennial wild plant mixtures established alone, under cover crop maize (Zea mays L.), and after spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)

The replacement of maize (Zea mays L.) by cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum L.) as biogas substrate and its implications for the energy and material flows of a large biogas plant

How to promote multifunctionality of vegetated strips in arable farming: A qualitative approach for Germany

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