Testing for complementarity in phosphorus resource use by mixtures of crop species

• Published in: Plant and soil Vol. 439; no. 1/2; pp. 163 - 177
• Main Authors: Li, Chunjie, Kuyper, Thomas W., van der Werf, Wopke, Zhang, Junling, Li, Haigang, Zhang, Fusuo, Hoffland, Ellis
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer Science + Business Media 01.06.2019; Springer International Publishing; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: biomass production; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Brassica oleracea; cabbage; calcium phosphates; chickpeas; Complementarity; Corn; Crops; Ecology; Experiments; faba beans; Hypotheses; intercropping; Iron; Life Sciences; Millet; millets; Partitioning; Phosphates; Phosphorus; phytic acid; Plant Physiology; Plant Sciences; Plant species; quartz; REGULAR ARTICLE; Resource partitioning; Sand; soil; Soil Science & Conservation; Sole cropping; Species; Test procedures; Wheat; Competition; Phosphorus; Intercrop; Complementarity; Resource partitioning
• ISSN: 0032-079X; 1573-5036
• DOI: 10.1007/s11104-018-3732-4

Aims The phosphorus (P) resource partitioning hypothesis assumes that dissimilarity in P acquisition traits among plant species leads to enhanced P uptake by crop combinations compared with their sole crops. We developed and implemented a test for this hypothesis. Methods Two pot experiments were conducted with quartz sands. In Experiment 1, the ability of the crop species to acquire P from sparingly soluble sources (Ca phosphate (CaP), phytate (PhyP) and P-coated Fe (hydr)oxide (FeP)) was tested. In accordance with the species performances in Experiment 1, combinations of millet/chickpea and cabbage/faba bean (which have dissimilar P acquisition traits) and wheat/maize (which have similar traits) were selected for Experiment 2. The biomass production and P uptake were compared between the sole crops and species combinations as well as between the single and mixed P sources. Results A dissimilarity in P acquisition traits enhanced P uptake by millet/chickpea on CaP/PhyP (as expected) but not by cabbage/faba bean on FeP/PhyP. Despite their similar P acquisition traits, we found enhanced P uptake by wheat/maize on CaP/PhyP. Conclusions Because of complicating factors such as unstable P acquisition traits and competitive inequality between species, the conditions under which the P resource partitioning hypothesis can be tested are limited. This challenge complicates designing for complementarity in soil P pools by intercrops.