Crop functional diversity alters soil fertility within two years of low-input successional agroforestry

IF 6.4 1区农林科学 Q1 AGRICULTURE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment Pub Date : 2025-08-23 DOI:10.1016/j.agee.2025.109919

Diego dos Santos , Vanessa A. Matias , Jucinei J. Comin , Felix J.J.A. Bianchi , Fernando Joner , Ilyas Siddique

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Successional agroforestry systems (SAFS), diversified and dynamic intercrops of herbs and woody species inspired in forest succession, have been promoted for their expected positive biodiversity effect on restoring biogeochemical cycling in low-input, oligotrophic agroecosystems. Using a trait-based approach during the initial establishment of SAFS, we aimed to assess the contribution of trait dissimilarity (Functional Diversity, FD) and dominant trait values (community-weighted mean, CWM) to crop aboveground biomass production and soil fertility. We implemented an experiment in humid subtropical Brazil (soil: 10 % clay; pH 5.4; 3.7 % organic matter) with three treatments consisted of three agroforestry mixtures with constant species richness but contrasting functional composition of crops and trees based on the functional trait Leaf Nitrogen Concentration (LNC). Structural Equation Models confirmed our general hypothetical model in which crop functional composition affects aboveground biomass and soil chemical properties. FD was positively related to soil C:N ratio (estimate β ± SE: 3.97 ± 0.94), soil Total Organic Carbon (estimate β ± SE: 6.49 ± 1.88) and mineral Nitrogen (estimate β ± SE: 0.01 ± 0.002). Crop biomass was positively related to the Sum of Bases (K+Mg+Ca; estimate β ± SE: 0.33 ± 0.15). We conclude that niche complementarity, along with the vegetation quantity hypothesis, better explained the changes in our soil data; and suggest that by maintaining a manageable level of species richness, it is possible to optimize agroecosystem functions related to soil fertility by selecting a functional structure with sufficient diversity, based on plant leaf traits such as LNC.

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低投入连续农林业2年内作物功能多样性改变土壤肥力

演替农林业系统（SAFS）是受森林演替启发的多种动态草本和木本间作，因其在低投入、低营养农业生态系统中对恢复生物地球化学循环具有积极的生物多样性效应而得到推广。在SAFS建立初期，我们采用基于性状的方法，旨在评估性状差异（功能多样性，FD）和优势性状值（群落加权平均，CWM）对作物地上生物量生产和土壤肥力的贡献。我们在巴西亚热带湿润地区（土壤：10 %粘土；pH 5.4； 3.7 %有机质）进行了试验，采用三种处理，包括三种混合农林业，具有恒定的物种丰富度，但基于叶片氮浓度（LNC）的功能性状，对比了作物和树木的功能组成。结构方程模型证实了我们的一般假设模型，即作物功能组成影响地上生物量和土壤化学性质。FD与土壤C:N比值（估计β±SE: 3.97 ± 0.94）、土壤总有机碳（估计β±SE: 6.49 ± 1.88）和矿质氮（估计β±SE: 0.01 ± 0.002）呈正相关。作物生物量与碱基和（K+Mg+Ca；估计β±SE: 0.33 ± 0.15）呈正相关。结果表明，生态位互补性和植被数量假说能够更好地解释土壤数据的变化；研究结果表明，通过保持可管理的物种丰富度，可以根据植物叶片特征（如LNC）选择具有足够多样性的功能结构，从而优化与土壤肥力相关的农业生态系统功能。

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来源期刊

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 环境科学-环境科学

CiteScore

11.70

自引率

9.10%

发文量

392

审稿时长

26 days

期刊介绍： Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment publishes scientific articles dealing with the interface between agroecosystems and the natural environment, specifically how agriculture influences the environment and how changes in that environment impact agroecosystems. Preference is given to papers from experimental and observational research at the field, system or landscape level, from studies that enhance our understanding of processes using data-based biophysical modelling, and papers that bridge scientific disciplines and integrate knowledge. All papers should be placed in an international or wide comparative context.