Abstract
Greater species diversity in natural ecosystems increases plant biomass production and stability. Intercropping is an agricultural practice that aims to accrue the benefits of species diversity by growing two or more species simultaneously in the same space. Functional group diversity is considered important for enhancing the beneficial effects of species diversity, but most previous intercropping studies used combinations of only two functional groups. Thus, we used three green manure species from different functional groups: sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench.), a C4 grass; crotalaria (Crotalaria juncea L.), a legume; and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), a forb. We examined the effects of intercropping on biomass, nutrient uptake, and their stability using a proportional replacement series in a field experiment for three years with four trials. The aboveground biomass was higher with dual and triple-component intercrops compared with sole crops; however, there were no superior effects of triple-component intercropping over dual-component intercropping. There were also no clear advantages of intercropping in terms of the nutrient uptake amount and stability.
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Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
dual intercropping increased aboveground biomass relative to sole cropping for sorghum.
- Treatment
- dual and triple-component intercropse0
- Outcome
- aboveground biomasse0
- Direction
- highere0
- Comparator
- sole cropse0
SorghumOrganisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The aboveground biomass was higher with dual and triple-component intercrops compared with sole crops; however, there were no superior effects of triple-component intercropping over dual-component intercropping.”
t0“sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench.), a C4 grass; crotalaria (Crotalaria juncea L.), a legume; and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
dual intercropping increased aboveground biomass relative to sole cropping for crotalaria.
- Taxon
- crotalaria
Crotalariat0 - Treatment
- dual and triple-component intercropse0
- Outcome
- aboveground biomasse0
- Direction
- highere0
- Comparator
- sole cropse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The aboveground biomass was higher with dual and triple-component intercrops compared with sole crops; however, there were no superior effects of triple-component intercropping over dual-component intercropping.”
t0“sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench.), a C4 grass; crotalaria (Crotalaria juncea L.), a legume; and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
dual intercropping increased aboveground biomass relative to sole cropping for sunflower.
- Taxon
- sunflower
Helianthus annuust0 - Treatment
- dual and triple-component intercropse0
- Outcome
- aboveground biomasse0
- Direction
- highere0
- Comparator
- sole cropse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The aboveground biomass was higher with dual and triple-component intercrops compared with sole crops; however, there were no superior effects of triple-component intercropping over dual-component intercropping.”
t0“sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench.), a C4 grass; crotalaria (Crotalaria juncea L.), a legume; and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
triple intercropping increased aboveground biomass relative to sole cropping for sorghum.
- Treatment
- triple-component intercropse0
- Outcome
- aboveground biomasse0
- Direction
- highere0
- Comparator
- sole cropse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The aboveground biomass was higher with dual and triple-component intercrops compared with sole crops; however, there were no superior effects of triple-component intercropping over dual-component intercropping.”
t0“sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench.), a C4 grass; crotalaria (Crotalaria juncea L.), a legume; and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
triple intercropping increased aboveground biomass relative to sole cropping for crotalaria.
- Taxon
- crotalariaCrotalariat0
- Treatment
- triple-component intercropse0
- Outcome
- aboveground biomasse0
- Direction
- highere0
- Comparator
- sole cropse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The aboveground biomass was higher with dual and triple-component intercrops compared with sole crops; however, there were no superior effects of triple-component intercropping over dual-component intercropping.”
t0“sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench.), a C4 grass; crotalaria (Crotalaria juncea L.), a legume; and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
triple intercropping increased aboveground biomass relative to sole cropping for sunflower.
- Taxon
- sunflowerHelianthus annuust0
- Treatment
- triple-component intercropse0
- Outcome
- aboveground biomasse0
- Direction
- highere0
- Comparator
- sole cropse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The aboveground biomass was higher with dual and triple-component intercrops compared with sole crops; however, there were no superior effects of triple-component intercropping over dual-component intercropping.”
t0“sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench.), a C4 grass; crotalaria (Crotalaria juncea L.), a legume; and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Triple intercropping was not superior to dual intercropping.
- Treatment
- triple-component intercroppinge0
- Outcome
- superior effectse0
- Direction
- no superiore0
- Comparator
- dual-component intercroppinge0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“there were no superior effects of triple-component intercropping over dual-component intercropping”
t0“sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench.), a C4 grass; crotalaria (Crotalaria juncea L.), a legume; and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Intercropping showed no clear nutrient uptake advantage.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“There were also no clear advantages of intercropping in terms of the nutrient uptake amount and stability.”
t0“sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench.), a C4 grass; crotalaria (Crotalaria juncea L.), a legume; and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)”
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See all 33 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.