In a two-year experiment in Ireland and Switzerland, researchers found a positive relationship between plant diversity and yield stability in intensely managed grassland, even under experimental drought conditions.
In a two-year experiment in Ireland and Switzerland, researchers found a positive relationship between plant diversity and yield stability in intensely managed grassland, even under experimental drought conditions. The results are presented today at the British Ecological Society’s annual meeting in Belfast.
The benefits of multispecies mixtures were so strong that yields from a mixture of four species under drought conditions matched or exceeded yields for monocultures under normal rainfall conditions.
The four species tested were agriculturally important and used for grazing livestock in temperate regions: perennial ryegrass, chicory, red clover and white clover.
"Multi-species mixtures can be an effective, farm-scale practical action that could be used to mitigate or even adapt to the effects of severe weather events such as drought"
Read more at British Ecological Society
Image: Pictured here: drought shelters (Credit: John Finn)
