Scott, D. and Freckleton, R.P. orcid.org/0000-0002-8338-864X (2022) Crop diversification and parasitic weed abundance: a global meta-analysis. Scientific Reports, 12 (1). 19413. ISSN 2045-2322
Abstract
Parasitic weeds cause huge annual losses to food production globally. A small number of species from the genera Cuscuta, Orobanche, Phelipanche and Striga have proliferated across many agroecological zones. Their control is compromised due to the lack of efficacy of conventional herbicides and their rapid adaptation to new resistant crop cultivars. A broad range of studies suggest consistent reductions in parasitic weed densities owing to increased spatial (intercropping) and temporal diversity (crop rotation). However, to date, no synthesis of this body of research has been published. Here we report the results of a meta-analysis using 1525 paired observations from 67 studies across 24 countries, comparing parasitic weed density and crop yields from monocrop and more diverse cropping systems. We found both spatial and temporal crop diversification had a significant effect on parasitic weed density reduction. Furthermore, our results show effects of spatial diversification are stronger in suppressing parasitic weeds than temporal effects. Furthermore, the analysis indicates intercrops which alter both microclimate and soil chemistry (e.g. Crotalaria, Stylosanthes, Berseem clover and Desmodium) are most effective in parasitic weed management. This analysis serves to underline the viability of crop diversification as a tool to enhance food security globally.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 The Authors. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
Keywords: | Plant Weeds; Weed Control; Agriculture; Striga; Orobanche |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > School of Biosciences (Sheffield) > Department of Biomedical Science (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 21 Nov 2022 15:15 |
Last Modified: | 21 Nov 2022 15:15 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/s41598-022-24047-2 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:193621 |