“Plant communities produce greater yield than monocultures”

 

Date: October 16, 2014

Source: University of Zurich

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141016085406.htm

Most crops are currently grown in monocultures. However, diverse plant communities are much more productive. Monocultures even damage soil over time. If people continue growing monocultures as the human population increases, there will be far too little food. A ten year study on grassland plants showed that in communities with biodiversity, all niches are occupied, so resources are used more effectively than in monocultures. Also, in biologically diverse communities, plants shield each other from parasites, making it hard for them to spread and wipe out crops. Thus, diverse plant communities are far more productive than monocultures. Additionally, plant species coevolve so they can use the available materials as effectively as possible. Overall, diverse plant communities have many more positive effects than crop monocultures like wheat. In fact, they even require less pest controls and fertilizers!

This article directly relates to our study of ecology. We learned about how communities, plants, evolution, niches, symbiosis, and how communities with great biodiversity are beneficial. This article explains how crops grown in communities rather than monocultures are very productive and have a large yield.