TY - JOUR

T1 - Plasticity of barley in response to plant neighbors in cultivar mixtures

AU - Dahlin, Iris

AU - Kiær, Lars P.

AU - Bergkvist, Göran

AU - Weih, Martin

AU - Ninkovic, Velemir

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - Aims: Cultivar mixtures can increase productivity through complementarity in resource use, but reported results are often conflicting and the role of plasticity in shaping plant-plant interactions is poorly understood. We aim to determine if individual cultivars show different phenotypic responses when grown in a mixture, whether these responses depend on the neighboring cultivar identity, and how they contribute to variations in productivity and nitrogen (N) use. Methods: Five spring barley cultivars were field-grown in pure stands and in mixtures during 2 years. Plant traits related to development, growth, N use, and reproduction were measured to identify temporal patterns of plastic responses to neighboring plants. Results: Plants in mixtures were shorter and developed slower early in the season, but later on they grew faster and produced more grain than the corresponding pure stands. Some cultivars showed complementary N accumulation only when grown together with specific neighbors. Mechanisms of improved productivity differed between the individual mixtures. Conclusions: Plastic plant-plant interaction between cultivars is an important driver behind the variability in mixing effects. Results contribute to a better understanding of how productivity in cultivar mixtures is affected by plastic adaptation and differentiation of plant traits, depending on the environment created by neighboring genotypes.

AB - Aims: Cultivar mixtures can increase productivity through complementarity in resource use, but reported results are often conflicting and the role of plasticity in shaping plant-plant interactions is poorly understood. We aim to determine if individual cultivars show different phenotypic responses when grown in a mixture, whether these responses depend on the neighboring cultivar identity, and how they contribute to variations in productivity and nitrogen (N) use. Methods: Five spring barley cultivars were field-grown in pure stands and in mixtures during 2 years. Plant traits related to development, growth, N use, and reproduction were measured to identify temporal patterns of plastic responses to neighboring plants. Results: Plants in mixtures were shorter and developed slower early in the season, but later on they grew faster and produced more grain than the corresponding pure stands. Some cultivars showed complementary N accumulation only when grown together with specific neighbors. Mechanisms of improved productivity differed between the individual mixtures. Conclusions: Plastic plant-plant interaction between cultivars is an important driver behind the variability in mixing effects. Results contribute to a better understanding of how productivity in cultivar mixtures is affected by plastic adaptation and differentiation of plant traits, depending on the environment created by neighboring genotypes.

KW - Adaptive plasticity

KW - Biodiversity

KW - Biomass allocation

KW - N use efficiency

KW - Phenotype

U2 - 10.1007/s11104-019-04406-1

DO - 10.1007/s11104-019-04406-1

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85077355511

VL - 447

SP - 537

EP - 551

JO - Plant and Soil

JF - Plant and Soil

SN - 0032-079X

ER -