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cover crop
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- Creator:
- Sutton, Etienne, Snapp, Sieglinde, Morrone, Vicki, and Blesh, Jennifer
- Description:
- Cover crops support ecosystem services in agroecosystems, but their performance can be highly variable. Functional trait ecology provides a useful framework for understanding variation in cover crop performance across different growing conditions. However, trait variation within species remains understudied compared to variation between species. In a two-year experiment, we measured nine functional traits for three cover crop species across 13 fields on working farms that spanned a gradient of soil health. Each field contained three cover crop treatments: a functionally diverse mixture of cereal rye (Secale cereale), crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum), and dwarf-essex rapeseed (Brassica napus), and rye and clover monocrops. We evaluated i) the magnitude and relative importance of intraspecific and interspecific trait variation; ii) which soil health indicators best explained trait variation; and iii) whether interspecific interactions in mixture induced trait plasticity. Despite strong trait contrasts between species, intraspecific trait variation comprised 50% of total trait variation, on average. Trait variation was best explained by particulate organic matter nitrogen (POM N), soil phosphorus, pH, and permanganate oxidizable carbon for clover; by POM N and soil phosphorus for rye; and by POM N for dwarf essex. Rye and clover also showed significant trait plasticity in mixture relative to monocrop treatments. Our study demonstrates that intraspecific and interspecific trait variation are equally important, and that examining trait variation within species can improve the ability to predict cover crop outcomes. This information can inform cropping system design in distinct contexts to promote success of component species and complementary ecosystem functions.
- Keyword:
- cover crop, functional trait, soil health, mixture, species interactions, and intraspecific trait variation
- Citation to related publication:
- Sutton, E., Snapp, S., Morrone, V., & Blesh, J. (2025). Cover crop functional trait plasticity in response to soil conditions and interspecific interactions. Plant and Soil. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-025-07471-x
- Discipline:
- Science
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- Creator:
- Blesh, Jennifer
- Description:
- This dataset contains three data files used in: Blesh, J. 2017. Functional traits in cover crop mixtures: biological nitrogen fixation and multifunctionality. Journal of Applied Ecology. There are also three corresponding metadata files. The file “Ecosystem_functions_soil_species.csv” contains data organized by farm, treatment, replicate block, and species combining the fall and spring sampling time points. These data include aboveground biomass, nitrogen and carbon content, and biological nitrogen fixation for the plant species. The dataset also includes measured soil characteristics for each farm site. The file “Ecosystem_functions_soil_treatment.csv” contains data organized by farm, treatment, and replicate block for the fall and spring sampling time points combined. These data include aboveground biomass, nitrogen and carbon content, and biological nitrogen fixation aggregated by treatment. The dataset also includes measured soil characteristics for each farm site. The file “Traits_unstandardized.csv” contains individual plant trait data, a subset of which were used to calculate an index of functional diversity after they were standardized to have zero mean and unit variance. These data are organized by farm, treatment, replicate block, and species. The corresponding metadata files: “Ecosystem_functions_soil_species_metadata.csv”, “Ecosystem_functions_soil_treatment_metadata.csv”, and “Traits_unstandardized_metadata.csv” provide a detailed description of all variables in each dataset and any abbreviations used. Note: On Dec 19th 2017, the format of the files was changed to csv to aid preservation. The following information was added to the three metadata files: the name of the data file the metadata refers to, an explanation as to the meaning of blank cells in the data file, a full citation to the paper where the author describes her findings and contact information for the author.
- Keyword:
- agroecology, biological nitrogen fixation, functional diversity, and cover crop
- Citation to related publication:
- Blesh J. Functional traits in cover crop mixtures: Biological nitrogen fixation and multifunctionality. J Appl Ecol. 2018;55:38–48. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13011
- Discipline:
- Science