Rapid transgenerational adaptation in response to intercropping reduces competition

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Science
• Ecology
• Plant Biology

Background:

• Intercropping leverages biodiversity for agricultural sustainability.
• Monoculture-bred seeds may limit intercropping benefits by ignoring plant adaptation to neighbors.
• The adaptive potential of crops in intercropping systems remains underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how parental coexistence history influences plant-plant interactions and complementarity in annual crops.
• To determine if adaptation over generations affects intercropping yield and species interactions.
• To explore phenotypic changes in crops due to shared environments across generations.

Main Methods:

• Annual crop species were grown for two generations in monocultures and mixtures.
• Plant-plant interactions (competition/facilitation) and yield were assessed.
• Phenotypic traits (height, leaf dry matter content) were measured to assess character convergence.

Main Results:

• Plant-plant interactions shifted towards reduced competition and/or increased facilitation with a common coexistence history.
• Overyielding increased in mixtures with a common coexistence history under fertilized conditions.
• Six crop species exhibited character convergence towards taller phenotypes with lower leaf dry matter content after two generations.

Conclusions:

• Parental diversity and shared environments across generations can positively affect plant-plant interactions and species complementarity in annual cropping systems.
• These findings suggest that targeted breeding for mixture-adapted cultivars could enhance intercropping efficiency.
• The study provides empirical evidence for adaptive potential influencing ecosystem functioning in subsequent generations of crops.