Is crop yield related to weed species diversity and biomass in coconut and banana fields of northeastern Brazil?

Abstract

The ability to accommodate crop production for an ever-growing human population and achieve conservation of rapidly declining biodiversity remains a challenging task worldwide. In agroecosystems, weed diversity and biomass are frequently assumed to be negatively related to crop yield and biomass. However, positive effects of weed species (pollinator and parasitoid attraction) and different resource acquisition strategies may reduce the competitive character of weeds—a potential that can be exploited within land-sharing approaches (i.e., biodiversity conservation and agriculture on the same site). This study aimed at analyzing the relationships of weed diversity and biomass to crop yield and biomass in coconut and banana fields within an irrigation farming scheme established in former Caatinga seasonal dry forest ecosystems around the Itaparica Reservoir, Pernambuco, Brazil. Within each of 21 selected crop fields, we collected weed diversity and biomass data in the fields’ center and edge along with general information on crop yield and the use of fertilizers and other agrochemical inputs. We found no evidence for a negative relationship of crop yield or biomass and weed diversity. On the contrary, crop yield and weed alpha diversity were significantly positively correlated (Shannon and Simpson indices, evenness). In contrast, weed biomass showed a significant negative correlation to crop yield. The use of organic fertilizer had a significant positive effect on crop yield, whereas no impact of herbicides or insecticides was detected. In addition, the field edge provided habitat for more weed species than the field center. Overall, our data show that in perennial tropical crop fields high yield is not opposed to high weed diversity. Moreover, the data suggest that organic farming in the area will likely not lead to yield losses. Nevertheless, the related weed assemblages inhabited only a few typical species of the native dry forest vegetation which makes their contribution to biodiversity conservation at the landscape scale debatable.