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1.
Agric Ecosyst Environ ; 323: 107648, 2022 Jan 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34980933

ABSTRACT

Insect-pollinated legumes are rich in plant-based proteins making them a vital constituent of sustainable healthy diets for people and livestock. Furthermore, they deliver or support a range of ecosystem services that underpin agricultural production and their prevalence in agricultural landscapes is likely to increase. Under typical implementation and management, the value of legumes to pollinators has, however, been questioned. Through exploring a range of legume crops, grown as monocultures and mixtures, this study aims to identify multifunctional legume cropping systems that optimise forage availability for a diversity of wild pollinators whilst delivering a wide range of agronomic and environmental benefits. This study innovatively explores legume mixtures concurrently with monocultures of the component species using replicated small-plot field trials established in two geographical locations. Observational plots assessed the richness and abundance of floral resources, and wild pollinators (i.e. bumblebees and hoverflies) throughout the peak flowering period. Densely flowering, highly profitable legumes (e.g. Trifolium incarnatum and Trifolium mixes) supported abundant and rich pollinator assemblages. The functional makeup of floral visitors was strongly influenced by flower structure and hoverflies, with their shorter proboscises, were largely constrained to legumes with shallower corolla and open weed species. Floral richness was not a key driver of pollinator assemblages; however, clear intra-specific differences were observed in flowering phenology. Combining functionally distinct legumes with respect to flower structure and phenology, will support a wider suite of pollinating insects and help stabilise the temporal availability of forage. For highly competitive legumes (e.g. Vicia faba and Vicia sativa), planting in discrete patches is recommended to reduce the risk of less competitive species failing in mixtures. Legumes can provide valuable forage for pollinators; however, they fail to meet all resource requirements. They should therefore be used in combination with agri-environmental measures targeted to promote early-season forage (e.g. hedgerows and farm woodlands), open flowers for hoverflies, saprophytic hoverfly larval resources (e.g. ditches and ponds) and nesting habitats (e.g. undisturbed field margins).

2.
Plant Cell Environ ; 41(9): 2045-2056, 2018 09.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-29323411

ABSTRACT

As well as capturing resources, roots lose resources during their lives. We quantified carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) losses associated with root turnover in white clover (Trifolium repens L.). We grew contrasting cultivars for 18 weeks in soil microcosms. Using repeated in situ observations, destructive sampling, and demographic analysis, we measured changes in C and N concentrations in dry matter of 1st- or 2nd-order (terminal) roots to derive C and N fluxes into and out of root cohorts. C and N fluxes from roots during turnover depended on cohort age and order. Ninety per cent of losses occurred from 2nd-order cohorts younger than 18 weeks. Losses were greater from roots of the larger, faster growing cultivar Alice than from the smaller lower yielding cultivar S184. C:N ratios of roots and lost material were similar within each order and between cultivars but smaller in 2nd- compared with 1st-order roots. C and N losses during root turnover could be equivalent to at least 6% of aboveground dry matter production in S184 and 12% in Alice at the field scale. C and N losses associated with root turnover will have potentially significant and previously unrecognized impacts on crop productivity, resource dynamics, and long-term soil fertility.


Subject(s)
Carbon/metabolism , Nitrogen/metabolism , Plant Roots/physiology , Trifolium/metabolism , Plant Roots/anatomy & histology , Plant Roots/metabolism
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