Seasonal soil health dynamics in soy-wheat relay intercropping

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 18989 - 12
• Main Authors: Thompson, Jennifer B., Döring, Thomas F., Bowles, Timothy M., Kolb, Steffen, Bellingrath-Kimura, Sonoko D., Reckling, Moritz
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 16.08.2024; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 704/158/2456; 704/172; Agricultural ecosystems; Agricultural practices; Agriculture - methods; Carbon; Carbon - analysis; Carbon - metabolism; Crop mixture; Crop Production - methods; Cropping systems; Crops, Agricultural - growth & development; Drought; Ecological function; Ecosystem; Farming systems; Germany; Glycine max - growth & development; Humanities and Social Sciences; Infiltration; Infiltration rate; Intercropping; Markvetenskap; Moisture content; multidisciplinary; Saturated soils; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Seasons; Soil - chemistry; Soil carbon; Soil infiltration; Soil microbial communities; Soil Microbiology; Soil Science; Soil water; Sole cropping; Soybeans; Spatial diversification; Topsoil; Triticum - growth & development; Water; Water infiltration; Wheat; Winter wheat; Germany; Crop mixture; Soil microbial communities; Spatial diversification; Soil carbon
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-69903-5

There is growing interest in intercropping as a practice to increase productivity per unit area and ecosystem functioning in agricultural systems. Relay intercropping with soy and winter wheat may benefit soil health due to increased diversity and longer undisturbed soil cover, yet this remains largely unstudied. Using a field experiment in Eastern Germany, we studied the temporal dynamics of chemical, biological, and physical indicators of soil health in the topsoil over a year of cultivation to detect early effects of soy-wheat relay intercropping compared to sole cropping. Indicators included microbial abundance, permanganate-oxidizable carbon, carbon fractions, pH, and water infiltration. Relay intercropping showed no unique soil health benefits compared to sole cropping, likely affected by drought that stressed intercropped soy. Relay intercropping did, however, maintain several properties of both sole crops including an increased MAOM C:N ratio and higher soil water infiltration. The MAOM C:N ratio increased by 4.2 and 6.2% in intercropping and sole soy and decreased by 5% in sole wheat. Average near-saturated soil water infiltration rates were 12.6, 14.9, and 6.0 cm hr −1 for intercropping, sole wheat, and sole soy, respectively. Cropping system did not consistently affect other indicators but we found temporal patterns of these indicators, showing their sensitivity to external changes.