Restuccia Alessia, Scavo Aurelio, Lombardo Sara, Pandino Gaetano, Fontanazza Stefania, Anastasi Umberto, Abbate Cristina, Mauromicale Giovanni
Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Di3A), University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy.
Plants (Basel). 2020 Nov 6;9(11):1506. doi: 10.3390/plants9111506.
Cover crops are gaining in popularity as an eco-friendly tool for weed control in organic and low-input agricultural systems. A 5-year study was carried out in a Mediterranean environment (Sicily, south Italy) to (1) quantify cover crop biomass production and (2) evaluate the effects on weed soil seed bank, aboveground biomass, species richness, species composition and associations between communities. Cover crop treatments included subterranean clover ( L.) and spontaneous flora, both with and without burying dead mulch into the soil, compared to a conventional management treatment. Weed biomass was significantly reduced by subterranean clover, contrariwise to spontaneous flora, with season-dependent results. Cover crop biomass, which ranged from 44 to more than 290 g DW m, was negatively correlated to weed biomass. Moreover, subterranean clover decreased the size of the soil seed bank and species richness. Based on relative frequency, a low similarity was found between the conventional management and cover crop treatments. In addition, no significant differences in species composition across treatments were observed, whereas principal component analysis highlighted some associations. The results suggest that subterranean clover cover cropping is a good option for weed management in Mediterranean agroecosystems.
作为有机和低投入农业系统中一种生态友好型杂草控制工具，覆盖作物越来越受欢迎。在意大利南部西西里岛的地中海环境中进行了一项为期5年的研究，以（1）量化覆盖作物生物量产量，以及（2）评估对杂草土壤种子库、地上生物量、物种丰富度、物种组成和群落间关联的影响。与传统管理处理相比，覆盖作物处理包括地下三叶草（L.）和自然植被，二者均有或无将死亡覆盖物埋入土壤的情况。与自然植被相反，地下三叶草显著降低了杂草生物量，结果具有季节依赖性。覆盖作物生物量在44至超过290克干重/平方米之间，与杂草生物量呈负相关。此外，地下三叶草减小了土壤种子库的规模和物种丰富度。基于相对频率，传统管理与覆盖作物处理之间的相似度较低。此外，各处理间未观察到物种组成的显著差异，而主成分分析突出了一些关联。结果表明，地下三叶草覆盖种植是地中海农业生态系统中杂草管理的一个良好选择。
