Temporal complementarity drives nitrogen uptake in strip intercropping with or without legumes

作者：Bei Dong, Zishen Wang, T.J. Stomph, Jochem B. Evers, P.E.L. van der Putten, Wopke van der Werf · 发表于：Agronomy for Sustainable Development · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1007/s13593-025-01052-z · 被引用次数：8 · 研究领域：Agronomic Practices and Intercropping Systems、Legume Nitrogen Fixing Symbiosis、Agroforestry and silvopastoral systems

Abstract Cereal/legume intercropping enables complementary nitrogen (N) uptake, whereas relay intercropping allows temporal complementarity. However, how these mechanisms contribute to N uptake under moderate, species-tailored N fertilization remains unclear, and clarifying this could inform intercropping practices aligned with Good Agricultural Practices in Europe. We therefore determined N uptake of maize ( Zea mays L.), wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.), faba bean ( Vicia faba L.), and pea ( Pisum sativum L.) in six bi-specific strip intercrops and corresponding monocrops. We compared relay intercrops involving maize (late sown) with simultaneous intercrops without maize, across cereal/legume, cereal/cereal, and legume/legume combinations. All species received locally recommended fertilizer amounts for conventional agriculture in the Netherlands. In relay strip intercrops, the early-sown wheat, faba bean, and pea had higher N uptake than the respective monocrops, especially in the border rows of strips. Maize N uptake increased when intercropped with wheat or pea in a year with substantial temporal complementarity. Intercropping with faba bean did not result in increased N uptake for either cereals or pea. Relay intercrops showed land equivalent ratios for N uptake and fertilizer N equivalent ratios mostly above one, while for simultaneous intercrops these were mostly close to one. Therefore, relay intercrops used land more efficiently for N uptake and saved fertilizer N for y...