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Image-based 3D canopy reconstruction to determine potential productivity in complex multi-species crop systems
- Source :
- Annals of Botany
- Publication Year :
- 2017
- Publisher :
- Oxford University Press, 2017.
-
Abstract
- Background and Aims: Intercropping systems contain two or more species simultaneously in close proximity. Due to contrasting features of the component crops, quantification of the light environment and photosynthetic productivity is extremely difficult. However it is an essential component of productivity. Here, a low-tech but high resolution method is presented that can be applied to single and multi-species cropping systems, to facilitate characterisation of the light environment. Different row layouts of an intercrop consisting of Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) and Proso millet (Panicum miliaceum) have been used as an example and the new opportunities presented by this approach have been analysed. Methods: Three-dimensional plant reconstruction, based on stereocameras, combined with ray-tracing was implemented to explore the light environment within the Bambara groundnut-Proso millet intercropping system and associated monocrops. Gas exchange data was used to predict the total carbon gain of each component crop. Key Results: The shading influence of the tall Proso millet on the shorter Bambara groundnut results in a reduction in total canopy light interception and carbon gain. However, the increased leaf area index (LAI) of Proso millet, higher photosynthetic potential due to the C4 pathway and sub-optimal photosynthetic acclimation of Bambara groundnut to shade means that increasing the number of rows of millet will lead to greater light interception and carbon gain per unit ground area, despite Bambara groundnut intercepting more light per unit leaf area. Conclusions: Three-dimensional reconstruction combined with ray tracing provides a novel, accurate method of exploring the light environment within an intercrop that does not require difficult measurements of light interception and data-intensive manual reconstruction, especially for such systems with inherently high spatial possibilities. It provides new opportunities for calculating potential productivity within multispecies cropping systems; enables the quantification of dynamic physiological differences between crops grown as monoculture and those within intercrops or; enables the prediction of new productive combinations of previously untested crops.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
Canopy
Light
Plant Science
Panicum
01 natural sciences
light interception
food
Imaging, Three-Dimensional
3D reconstruction
Leaf area index
3D Reconstruction, Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.), Canopy Architecture, Canopy Productivity, Intercropping, Light interception, Photosynthesis, Proso millet (Panicum miliaceum), Ray Tracing
canopy productivity
Panicum miliaceum
photosynthesis
biology
ray tracing
canopy architecture
Vigna
proso millet (Panicum miliaceum)
Intercropping
04 agricultural and veterinary sciences
Models, Theoretical
biology.organism_classification
food.food
Crop Production
Agronomy
Photosynthetic acclimation
040103 agronomy & agriculture
0401 agriculture, forestry, and fisheries
Monoculture
Interception
Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.)
Vigna subterranea
Research in Context
intercropping
010606 plant biology & botany
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 10958290 and 03057364
- Volume :
- 119
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Annals of Botany
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....b63a5bb8b5366eebb2035195988c6a43