Full-Season Cover Crops and Their Traits That Promote Agroecosystem Services

Cameron Wagg, Aafke van Erk, Erica Fava, Louis-Pierre Comeau, T. Fatima Mitterboeck, Claudia Goyer, Sheng Li, Andrew McKenzie-Gopsill and Aaron Mills
Additional contact information
Cameron Wagg: Fredericton Research and Development Center, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 850 Lincoln Rd., Fredericton, NB E3B 4Z7, Canada
Aafke van Erk: Fredericton Research and Development Center, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 850 Lincoln Rd., Fredericton, NB E3B 4Z7, Canada
Erica Fava: Fredericton Research and Development Center, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 850 Lincoln Rd., Fredericton, NB E3B 4Z7, Canada
Louis-Pierre Comeau: Fredericton Research and Development Center, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 850 Lincoln Rd., Fredericton, NB E3B 4Z7, Canada
T. Fatima Mitterboeck: Fredericton Research and Development Center, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 850 Lincoln Rd., Fredericton, NB E3B 4Z7, Canada
Claudia Goyer: Fredericton Research and Development Center, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 850 Lincoln Rd., Fredericton, NB E3B 4Z7, Canada
Sheng Li: Fredericton Research and Development Center, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 850 Lincoln Rd., Fredericton, NB E3B 4Z7, Canada
Andrew McKenzie-Gopsill: Charlottetown Research and Development Center, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 440 University Ave, Charlottetown, PE C1A 7Z5, Canada
Aaron Mills: Charlottetown Research and Development Center, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 440 University Ave, Charlottetown, PE C1A 7Z5, Canada

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 9, 1-26

Abstract: Non-marketable crops are increasingly being used as a tool to promote agroecosystem services and sustainable agriculture. Nevertheless, crops vary greatly in the traits by which they capture resources and influence the local ecosystem. Here we report on the traits and associated soil microbial communities that relate to aboveground biomass production, nutrient capture, weed suppression, erosion control and building particulate organic matter of 22 different full-season cover crops. All agroecosystem services were positively correlated with maximum canopy height and leaf area. Rooting density was positively associated with indices of bacterial diversity. While some legumes produced the greatest standing N and P in aboveground biomass, they were also poor at capturing soil nitrate and promoted high levels of potential plant fungal pathogens. Conversely, Brassicaceae crops had the lowest levels of potential plant fungal pathogens, but also suppressed saprophytic fungi and rhizobia. Thus, not all crops are equal in their ability to promote all agroecosystem services, and while some crops may be ideal for promoting a specific agroecosystem service, this could result in a trade-off with another. Nonetheless, our study demonstrates that plant functional traits are informative for the selection of crops for promoting agroecosystem services.

Keywords: cover crops; multifunctionality; plant-soil interactions; soil health; weed suppression; erosion control; nutrient capture; ecosystem function; microbial functional guilds (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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