Claudio Porqueddu

Ecosystem function enhanced by combining four functional types of plant species in intensively managed grassland mixtures: a 3‐year continental‐scale field experiment

1.A coordinated continental-scale field experiment across 31 sites was used to compare the biomass yield of monocultures and four species mixtures associated with intensively managed agricultural grassland systems. To increase complementarity in resource use, each of the four species in the experimental design represented a distinct functional type derived from two levels of each of two functional traits, nitrogen acquisition (N2-fixing legume or nonfixing grass) crossed with temporal development (fast-establishing or temporally persistent). Relative abundances of the four functional types in mixtures were systematically varied at sowing to vary the evenness of the same four species in mixture communities at each site and sown at two levels of seed density. 2.Across multiple years, the total yield (including weed biomass) of the mixtures exceeded that of the average monoculture in >97% of comparisons. It also exceeded that of the best monoculture (transgressive overyielding) in about 60% of sites, with a mean yield ratio of mixture to best-performing monoculture of 1·07 across all sites. Analyses based on yield of sown species only (excluding weed biomass) demonstrated considerably greater transgressive overyielding (significant at about 70% of sites, ratio of mixture to best-performing monoculture = 1·18). 3.Mixtures maintained a resistance to weed invasion over at least 3 years. In mixtures, median values indicate

Benefits of sward diversity for agricultural grasslands

Abstract A pan-European experiment carried out at 28 sites across Europe showed strong benefits of sward diversity in agricultural grasslands. We systematically varied the relative abundance of four agronomic plant species (sown species evenness), and found that 4-species mixtures yielded more forage than could be expected on the basis of the monoculture yields. Mixtures generally yielded more than even the best performing monoculture (transgressive overyielding). Mixtures strongly reduced the incidence of unsown species in the sward. These diversity effects were consistent over the wide range of environmental conditions and persisted over three harvest years and in highly fertilized conditions. These results indicate a strong potential for agronomic mixtures to contribute to more sustainable agricultural systems. Agronomic diversity can improve forage yield and reduce weed invasion in intensively managed grasslands, and may also enhance the provision of other ecosystem services.

The Agrodiversity Experiment: three years of data from a multisite study in intensively managed grasslands

Kirwan, L., Connolly, J., Brophy, C., Baadshaug, O. H., Belanger, G., Black, A., Carnus, T., Collins, R. P., Cop, J., Delgado, I., De Vliegher, A., Elgersma, A., Frankow-Lindberg, B. E., Golinski, P., Grieu, P., Gustavsson, A., Helgadottir, A., Hoglind, M., Huguenin-elie, O., Jorgensen, M., Kadziuliene, Z., Lunnan, T., Luscher, A., Kurki, P., Porqueddu, C., Sebastia, M. T., Thumm, U., Walmsley, D. & Finn, J. A. (2014). The Agrodiversity Experiment: three years of data from a multisite study in intensively managed grasslands. Ecology, 95 (9), [2680]

The Agrodiversity Experiment: three years of data from a multisite study in intensively managed grasslands Ecological Archives

Kirwan, L., Connolly, J., Brophy, C., Baadshaug, O. H., Belanger, G., Black, A., Carnus, T., Collins, R. P., Cop, J., Delgado, I., De Vliegher, A., Elgersma, A., Frankow-Lindberg, B. E., Golinski, P., Grieu, P., Gustavsson, A., Helgadottir, A., Hoglind, M., Huguenin-elie, O., Jorgensen, M., Kadziuliene, Z., Lunnan, T., Luscher, A., Kurki, P., Porqueddu, C., Sebastia, M. T., Thumm, U., Walmsley, D. & Finn, J. A. (2014). The Agrodiversity Experiment: three years of data from a multisite study in intensively managed grasslands. Ecology, 95 (9), [2680]