Interactive effects of intercropping patterns and nitrogen addition on root architectural characteristics of oat and pea in an alpine region

doi:10.11686/cyxb2023155

Abstract

Abstract:

Interspecific interactions among plant roots are a crucial pathway to improve the productivity of intercropping systems， and the addition of exogenous nitrogen also plays an important role in altering the architectural characteristics of plant roots. However， few studies have explored the interactive effects of intercropping patterns and nitrogen addition on the architectural characteristics of roots in intercropping systems. We conducted a field experiment to examine the effect of intercropping patterns and nitrogen addition on plant biomass and on the morphological and architectural characteristics of roots in oat-pea intercropping systems. We found that the highest values of above- and belowground biomass for oat were in the alternate-row intercropping system with high nitrogen addition， whereas the maximum biomass of pea was in a monoculture with no nitrogen addition. The root morphological traits of oat in the alternate-row intercropping system with high nitrogen addition were superior to those of monocultured oat. In contrast， in pea， the maximum root area， root volume， and number of root tips were in a monoculture with high nitrogen addition， while the highest number of root forks and maximum altitude and magnitude of roots was in a monoculture with no added nitrogen. The maximum values for the altitude and magnitude of oat roots were in an alternate-row intercropping system， while the maximum value for the altitude of pea roots was in a monoculture with no nitrogen addition. Furthermore， nitrogen addition and intercropping simultaneously had positive effects on oat roots through increasing the root area， volume， and magnitude， and promoting lateral root growth， but had negative effects on pea roots by decreasing the number of connections and tips， reducing the root altitude， and suppressing the growth of lateral root growth. Our findings suggest that both nitrogen addition and intercropping can strengthen the nutrient absorption capacity of roots by increasing the contact area between roots and soil， leading to greater accumulation of biomass. These findings support the hypothesis that oat shows stronger competitiveness and higher productivity than pea when grown in oat-pea intercropping systems.

Key words: oat, pea, intercropping, root morphology, topological structure

Gen-sheng BAO, Yuan LI, Xiao-yun FENG, Peng ZHANG, Si-yu MENG. Interactive effects of intercropping patterns and nitrogen addition on root architectural characteristics of oat and pea in an alpine region[J]. Acta Prataculturae Sinica, 2024, 33(3): 73-84.

Figures/Tables 5

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物种 Species	测试指标 Measurements	主区效应Main block effects （M）		裂区效应Split block effects （S）		交互效应 M×S
物种 Species	测试指标 Measurements	F	P	F	P	F	P
燕麦 Oat	地上生物量 AB	17.46	0.01	7.84	<0.01	3.63	<0.01
	地下生物量 BB	106.94	<0.01	8.40	<0.01	26.32	<0.01
	根表面积RSA	116.63	<0.01	15.99	<0.01	11.39	<0.01
	根体积RV	287.58	<0.01	4.76	0.02	7.59	<0.01
	根系平均直径RAD	53.13	<0.01	3.71	0.05	13.78	<0.01
	连接数 Co	79.98	<0.01	40.69	<0.01	11.02	<0.01
	根尖数RT	15.19	<0.01	6.39	<0.01	0.87	0.50
	分叉数 F	148.56	<0.01	176.19	<0.01	21.50	<0.01
	内部连接 Ic	148.31	<0.01	16.45	<0.01	8.96	<0.01
	外部连接 Ec	402.64	<0.01	193.66	<0.01	45.83	<0.01
	分形维数 FD	11.86	<0.01	4.61	0.02	1.00	0.43
	拓扑指数 TI	88.36	<0.01	124.32	<0.01	58.55	<0.01
豌豆 Pea	地上生物量 AB	21.21	0.01	23.26	<0.01	8.43	<0.01
	地下生物量 BB	1.89	0.17	17.82	<0.01	1.23	0.32
	根表面积RSA	5.98	0.01	90.73	<0.01	47.08	<0.01
	根体积RV	28.67	<0.01	52.26	<0.01	38.84	<0.01
	根系平均直径RAD	2.19	0.14	4.78	0.02	11.78	<0.01
	连接数 Co	25.37	<0.01	171.74	<0.01	49.22	<0.01
	根尖数RT	3.32	0.06	86.61	<0.01	17.54	<0.01
	分叉数 F	6.81	<0.01	107.12	<0.01	40.50	<0.01
	内部连接 Ic	34.34	<0.01	302.06	<0.01	82.50	<0.01
	外部连接 Ec	39.60	<0.01	419.59	<0.01	97.37	<0.01
	分形维数 FD	0.18	0.84	4.89	0.02	2.10	0.12
	拓扑指数 TI	190.28	<0.01	0.21	0.82	19.31	<0.01

物种 Species	测试指标 Measurements	主区效应Main block effects （M）		裂区效应Split block effects （S）		交互效应 M×S
物种 Species	测试指标 Measurements	F	P	F	P	F	P
燕麦 Oat	地上生物量 AB	17.46	0.01	7.84	<0.01	3.63	<0.01
	地下生物量 BB	106.94	<0.01	8.40	<0.01	26.32	<0.01
	根表面积RSA	116.63	<0.01	15.99	<0.01	11.39	<0.01
	根体积RV	287.58	<0.01	4.76	0.02	7.59	<0.01
	根系平均直径RAD	53.13	<0.01	3.71	0.05	13.78	<0.01
	连接数 Co	79.98	<0.01	40.69	<0.01	11.02	<0.01
	根尖数RT	15.19	<0.01	6.39	<0.01	0.87	0.50
	分叉数 F	148.56	<0.01	176.19	<0.01	21.50	<0.01
	内部连接 Ic	148.31	<0.01	16.45	<0.01	8.96	<0.01
	外部连接 Ec	402.64	<0.01	193.66	<0.01	45.83	<0.01
	分形维数 FD	11.86	<0.01	4.61	0.02	1.00	0.43
	拓扑指数 TI	88.36	<0.01	124.32	<0.01	58.55	<0.01
豌豆 Pea	地上生物量 AB	21.21	0.01	23.26	<0.01	8.43	<0.01
	地下生物量 BB	1.89	0.17	17.82	<0.01	1.23	0.32
	根表面积RSA	5.98	0.01	90.73	<0.01	47.08	<0.01
	根体积RV	28.67	<0.01	52.26	<0.01	38.84	<0.01
	根系平均直径RAD	2.19	0.14	4.78	0.02	11.78	<0.01
	连接数 Co	25.37	<0.01	171.74	<0.01	49.22	<0.01
	根尖数RT	3.32	0.06	86.61	<0.01	17.54	<0.01
	分叉数 F	6.81	<0.01	107.12	<0.01	40.50	<0.01
	内部连接 Ic	34.34	<0.01	302.06	<0.01	82.50	<0.01
	外部连接 Ec	39.60	<0.01	419.59	<0.01	97.37	<0.01
	分形维数 FD	0.18	0.84	4.89	0.02	2.10	0.12
	拓扑指数 TI	190.28	<0.01	0.21	0.82	19.31	<0.01

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