Abstract
Rubber-based (Hevea brasiliensis) agroforestry systems are regarded as the best way to improve the sustainability of rubber monocultures, but few reports have examined water use in such systems. Accordingly, we tested whether interplanting facilitates water utilization of rubber trees using stable isotope (δD, δ18O, and δ13C) methods and by measuring soil water content (SWC), shoot potential, and leaf C and N concentrations in a Hevea-Flemingia agroforestry system in Xishuangbanna, southwestern China. We detected a big difference in the utilization of different soil layer water between both species in this agroforestry system, as evidenced by the opposite seasonal fluctuations in both δD and δ18O in stem water. However, similar predawn shoot potential of rubber trees at both sites demonstrating that the interplanted species did not affect the water requirements of rubber trees greatly. Rubber trees with higher δ13C and more stable physiological indexes in this agroforestry system showed higher water use efficiency (WUE) and tolerance ability, and the SWC results suggested this agroforestry is conductive to water conservation. Our results clearly indicated that intercropping legume plants with rubber trees can benefit rubber trees own higher N supply, increase their WUE and better utilize soil water of each soil layer.
Highlights
Create a more diverse, productive, healthy, and sustainable land-use system, is a promising and practical way to minimize such issues[15]
In order to realize the beneficial effects of F. macrophylla on rubber plantations with respect to water use, we investigated the interspecific and intraspecific differences and variation in Hevea-Flemingia agroforestry systems (HFAs) among seasons
Rainwater δ D and δ 18O varied among seasons (δ D ranged from − 107.42‰ to 2.25‰, and δ 18O ranged from − 14.59‰ to − 1.26‰), Soil water content Soil water content (a)
Summary
Create a more diverse, productive, healthy, and sustainable land-use system, is a promising and practical way to minimize such issues[15]. In order to realize the beneficial effects of F. macrophylla on rubber plantations with respect to water use, we investigated the interspecific and intraspecific differences and variation in Hevea-Flemingia agroforestry systems (HFAs) among seasons. We measured leaf δ 13C and the soil water content (SWC) over the course of a rainy/dry season cycle (2013–2014) to compare the interspecific and intraspecific water use efficiency (WUE) and moisture conservation ability of the system, respectively. We hypothesized that (i) rubber agroforestry systems maintain much more soil water than rubber monoculture systems; (ii) interplanting could improve the WUE and productivity of rubber trees via species interactions; and (iii) the rubber plants and the interplanted species may extract water from different sources
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