Species interactions in

in
crop communities
Toto Himawan

EKOLOGI PERTANIAN
Fakultas Pertanian, Universitas Brawijaya
COMMUNITY:

 Formed by a complex of interacting

populations of crops, weeds, insects
and microorganisms.
Introduction
Introduction
 Emergent qualities = characteristics of community, important in
a system’s stability, productivity and dynamic function
 Research typically focused on crop population rather than
community of which it is a part
 Lose ability to consider manipulating the community interactions
to benefit cropping system
 Only detrimental interactions have been considered (weeds, pest
herbivores, disease)
 Conventional approach minimizes interactions vs. agroecological
approach which attempts to understand species interactions in
the context of the larger community
Interference
Interference at
at the
the
community
community level
level
2 types of interference :

 removal - removal of some resource by one or both of

the interacting organisms
 addition - one or both organisms adds some
substance or structure to the environment

Advantage of interference approach is that it allows a more

complete understanding of the mechanisms of interaction
Ways in which interference may combine to effect crop
community
Addition impact Removal impact

Combined removal and addition

Complexity of interactions:

 Interactions are complex and difficult to

discern

 Grass - clover example

Coexistence :

 Populations of similar organisms often share the same

habitat even though niches highly overlap
 Ecologists widely accept the idea that selection for
coexistence may be the rule more than the exception
 Many domesticated species have evolved in polycultures
 Understanding mechanisms of interference that allow
coexistence will help us design multiple crop
communities
 Combine species with slightly different physiological
characteristics or resource needs to promote coexistence
Mutualism :

3 Types:
 Inhabitational - one mutualist lives wholly or partly inside the other
(eg. Rhizobium bacteria and leguminous plants)
 Exhabitational - organisms are relatively independent physically,
but interact directly (eg. flowering plant and its insect pollinator)
 Indirect - interactions among a set of species modify the
environment in which they all live to the benefit of the mixture;
involve more than 2 species (eg. polyculture agroecosystem)
Mutualism :
Mutually
Mutually Beneficial
Beneficial Interferences
Interferences
at
at Work
Work in
in Agroecosystems
Agroecosystems
 Cover crop = plant species (usually grasses or legumes)
grown in pure or mixed stands to cover the soil of the crop
community for part or all of the year
 Green manure = cover crop tilled into the soil to add OM
 Living mulch = cover crop grown directly with other crops
 Reduce soil erosion; improve soil structure; enhance soil
fertility; suppress weeds, insects, and pathogens (see Table
15.1 for more benefits)
 May be beneficial at some times while detrimental at others
(see CASE STUDY rye/bellbeans)
With proper management, weeds can serve role of
cover crop

Modification of the Cropping System

Environment

Control of Insect Pests by Promotion of

Beneficial Insects
Modification
Modification of
of the
the Cropping
Cropping System
System
Environment
Environment

 Weeds protect soil surface from erosion

 take up nutrients that might otherwise be
leached
 add OM
 selectively inhibit development of more
noxious species through allelopathy
Control
Control of
of Insect
Insect Pests
Pests by
by Promotion
Promotion of
of
Beneficial
Beneficial Insects
Insects

 Certain weeds should be regarded as

important components of the crop community
because of the positive effects they have on
populations of beneficial insects
 Two or more crops planted together may reduce need
for external inputs
 Mostly used in the tropics
 Corn-bean-squash polyculture example
 - growing 3 crops together gave higher total yield
 - LER>1
Using Species Interactions for
Sustainability

 Challenge for agroecologists is to put

ecological understanding into the context of
sustainability