1. Crop presence, but not genetic diversity, impacts on the rare arable plant <italic>Valerianella rimosa</italic>.
- Author
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Brooker, Rob W., Karley, Alison J., Morcillo, Luna, Newton, Adrian C., Pakeman, Robin J., and Schöb, Christian
- Subjects
BIODIVERSITY ,ABIOTIC environment ,AGRICULTURAL ecology - Abstract
: Intensive farming affects farmland biodiversity, and some arable plants in particular. Increasing crop genetic diversity can increase crop productivity or resilience and could also benefit rare arable plants.Background : We examined whether barley presence, sowing density and genetic diversity impacted the rare plantAims Valerianella rimosa and explored possible underlying mechanisms. : In a field study near Dundee, Scotland, we sowed plots of five single barley genotypes, and all five genotypes combined, at three densities; we also had barley-free plots.Methods Valerianella seeds were sown into half of all plots. Measured responses included early-season cover and harvest biomass of barley and common weeds, abiotic parameters (soil moisture, light) and establishment, biomass and seed production byV. rimosa . : Barley presence promotedResults V. rimosa establishment early in the growing season, but without barley density or genetic diversity effects. By harvest, the impact of barley presence onV. rimosa abundance was lost; there were no effects onValerianella seed production. Barley negatively impacted common weeds, butV. rimosa did not benefit from any indirect facilitation by barley, being bigger without barley. : Early beneficial effects of barley onConclusions V. rimosa abundance appear offset by late-season competition. However, limited impacts of barley onV. rimosa reproductive success, and negative impacts on common weeds, indicate crops might play a role in conservation management of rare arable plants by creating space in the weed community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2017
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