Moringa (Moringa oleifera L.) is a rich source of phytonutrients for both humans and animals. However, a standardized method for propagating Moringa through cutting and seeds is lacking, thus limiting its widespread cultivation. Hence, studies were carried out to determine suitable treatments to produce high-quality propagation materials from cutti...
Published in Frontiers in Environmental Science
Grazing is a main land use of natural grasslands in the world, which has both positive and negative impact on plant community structure and ecosystem functioning. However, the effects of long-term grazing management on the plant–soil system, in particular above- and belowground community characteristics, are still not well understood in alpine mead...
Common bean is an important crop due to its high nutritional value. However, its production in Ecuador has decreased due to biotic and abiotic factors. Understanding the mechanisms that determine the yield components of this crop is essential to establish strategies that allow increasing the yield. In this study, the plant density was modified to e...
Published in Frontiers in Plant Science
Introduction While globally appreciated for reliable, intensification-friendly phenotypes, modern corn (Zea mays L.) genotypes retain crop plasticity potential. For example, weather and heterogeneous field conditions can overcome phenotype uniformity and facilitate tiller expression. Such plasticity may be of interest in restrictive or otherwise va...
This study aimed to estimate the plant density of early straw cereal crops with spectral reflectance for high-throughput phenotyping. Spectral reflectance were collected in microplot experiments from different sites, between 1-leaf to 3-leaf growth stages and with different density treatments. Plant density was estimated indirectly from spectral re...
Published in Environmental Research Letters
Crop yield results from the complex interaction between genotype, management, and environment. While farmers have control over what genotype to plant and how to manage it, their decisions are often sub-optimal due to climate variability. Sub-seasonal climate predictions embrace the great potential to improve risk analysis and decision-making. Howev...
Effective rangeland management relies on precise monitoring and assessment of natural resources, offering insights into ecosystem structure and function. Standardized methods, consistently applied over time and space, are crucial for ensuring data quality across various applications. Achieving successful rangeland monitoring necessitates significan...
Published in Frontiers in Plant Science
During the high grazing of epiphytic zooplankton in submerged macrophyte beds, the changes in crustacean zooplankton functional groups are crucial for stabilizing a clear water state in shallow lakes. However, submerged macrophytes often experience low-light stress due to many ecological processes. It is unclear whether submerged macrophytes alter ...
Published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems
Introduction Soil health is critical for the efficient management of soil fertility and crop yield in “green” cocoa (GC) (Theobroma cacao L.) agroforestry systems. However, knowledge about agroecosystem factors that affect healthy soil productivity in “green” cocoa agroforestry systems is patchy in West Africa. Based on organic cocoa (OC) and conve...
Published in Plants
Plant density is among the most critical factors affecting plant yields and resource use efficiency since it drives the exploitation of the available resources per unit area, root distribution and soil water losses by direct evaporation from the soil. Consequently, in fine-textured soils, it can also affect the formation and development of desiccat...
