Abstract
Intercropping is an emerging potential nature-based solution for sustainable crop production in temperate environments. However, its long-term role in contributing to climate mitigation and adaptation remains unclear. This work presents the first evidence of potential long-term water and carbon effects of barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.) and pea ( Pisum sativum L.) intercropping versus its barley monoculture for a typical temperate environment in Scotland. Based on experimental data, water (HYDRUS 5) and soil carbon (RothC) models were coupled to project water-carbon dynamics for the short-term during a two-season field trial (2022−2023) and the long-term future (2024–2050) under a worst-case climate scenario (Representative Concentration Pathway, RCP 8.5). The coupled water-carbon model effectively captured the water-carbon dynamics observed in the short-term. Compared to barley monoculture, intercropping increased evapotranspiration up to ∼20 % in the short-term, dominated by the dry weather conditions in 2022. Long-term intercropping projected lower interannual variability in evapotranspiration than barley monoculture, but showed higher plant transpiration in dry years, indicating more adaptive water use and hydrological resilience. As intercropping is projected to increase transpiration but reduce soil evaporation compared with barley monoculture, it maintained similar levels of soil water content and storage in the topsoil (0–30 cm). In addition, by 2050, soil carbon was predicted to increase in the upper topsoil (0–5 cm) of intercropping by 16 % (1.91 kg m −2 ) compared to barley monoculture (1.63 kg m −2 ). These novel findings suggest that intercropping could play a critical role in enhancing hydrological resilience and carbon sequestration in temperate environments for sustainable land management.
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Claims 9
Claim · model-written summary
The coupled water-carbon model captured the short-term water-carbon dynamics observed in the field.
- Taxon
- barley
.jpg?width=60)
Hordeum vulgaret0 - Outcome
- water-carbon dynamicse0
- Comparator
- the water-carbon dynamics observed in the short-terme0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
t0“barley - pea intercropping”
e0“effectively captured the water-carbon dynamics observed in the short-term”
Claim · model-written summary
Intercropping increased evapotranspiration by up to about 20% in the short term compared with barley monoculture.
- Taxon
- barleyHordeum vulgaret0
- Treatment
- intercroppinge0
- Outcome
- evapotranspiratione0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- ∼20 %e0
- Qualifier
- dry weather conditions in 2022e1
- Comparator
- barley monoculturee0
- Setting
- two-season field triale2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“barley - pea intercropping”
e0“Compared to barley monoculture, intercropping increased evapotranspiration up to ∼20 % in the short-term”
e1“dominated by the dry weather conditions in 2022”
e2“two-season field trial”
Claim · model-written summary
Intercropping is projected to have lower interannual variability in evapotranspiration than barley monoculture in the long term.
- Taxon
- barleyHordeum vulgaret0
- Treatment
- intercroppinge0
- Outcome
- interannual variability in evapotranspiratione0
- Direction
- lowere0
- Comparator
- barley monoculturee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“barley - pea intercropping”
e0“Long-term intercropping projected lower interannual variability in evapotranspiration than barley monoculture”
Claim · model-written summary
Long-term intercropping is projected to show higher plant transpiration in dry years than barley monoculture.
- Taxon
- barleyHordeum vulgaret0
- Treatment
- intercroppinge0
- Outcome
- plant transpiratione1
- Direction
- highere1
- Qualifier
- in dry yearse1
- Comparator
- barley monoculturee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“barley - pea intercropping”
e0“Long-term intercropping projected lower interannual variability in evapotranspiration than barley monoculture”
e1“showed higher plant transpiration in dry years”
Claim · model-written summary
Intercropping is projected to increase transpiration compared with barley monoculture.
- Taxon
- barleyHordeum vulgaret0
- Treatment
- intercroppinge0
- Outcome
- transpiratione0
- Direction
- increasee0
- Comparator
- barley monoculturee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“barley - pea intercropping”
e0“As intercropping is projected to increase transpiration but reduce soil evaporation compared with barley monoculture”
Claim · model-written summary
Intercropping is projected to reduce soil evaporation compared with barley monoculture.
- Taxon
- barleyHordeum vulgaret0
- Treatment
- intercroppinge0
- Outcome
- soil evaporatione0
- Direction
- reducee0
- Comparator
- barley monoculturee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“barley - pea intercropping”
e0“As intercropping is projected to increase transpiration but reduce soil evaporation compared with barley monoculture”
Claim · model-written summary
Intercropping maintained similar levels of soil water content and storage in the topsoil.
- Taxon
- barleyHordeum vulgaret0
- Treatment
- intercroppinge0
- Outcome
- soil water content and storage in the topsoil (0–30 cm)e1
- Direction
- similar levelse1
- Comparator
- barley monoculturee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“barley - pea intercropping”
e0“As intercropping is projected to increase transpiration but reduce soil evaporation compared with barley monoculture”
e1“it maintained similar levels of soil water content and storage in the topsoil (0–30 cm)”
Claim · model-written summary
By 2050, intercropping is projected to increase upper-topsoil carbon by 16% relative to barley monoculture.
- Taxon
- barleyHordeum vulgaret0
- Organ / stage
- upper topsoil (0–5 cm)e0
- Treatment
- intercroppinge0
- Outcome
- soil carbone0
- Direction
- increasee0
- Value
- 16 %e0
- Qualifier
- 1.91 kg m −2e0
- Comparator
- barley monoculturee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“barley - pea intercropping”
e0“by 2050, soil carbon was predicted to increase in the upper topsoil (0–5 cm) of intercropping by 16 % (1.91 kg m −2) compared to barley monoculture (1.63 kg m −2)”
Claim · model-written summary
Intercropping could play a critical role in enhancing hydrological resilience and carbon sequestration in temperate environments.
- Taxon
- barleyHordeum vulgaret0
- Outcome
- hydrological resilience and carbon sequestratione0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“barley - pea intercropping”
e0“These novel findings suggest that intercropping could play a critical role in enhancing hydrological resilience and carbon sequestration in temperate environments”
The same questions in other papers
intercropping · soil: physics · Hordeum vulgare (barley)Results agree
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- negative
intercropping · physiology: gas exchange · Hordeum vulgare (barley)Results agree
1 paper in the same direction as this paper
- positive
intercropping · soil: chemistry · Hordeum vulgare (barley)Results agree
2 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
intercropping · physiology: water · Hordeum vulgare (barley)Results agree
3 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
- positive
Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.