scholarly journals Tradeoffs in the evolution of plant farming by ants

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (5) ◽  
pp. 2535-2543 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillaume Chomicki ◽  
Gudrun Kadereit ◽  
Susanne S. Renner ◽  
E. Toby Kiers
Keyword(s):  
Crop Yield ◽  
Crop Protection ◽  
High Light ◽  
Cultivated Plants ◽  
Ancestral State ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
Plant Cultivation ◽  
Floral Rewards ◽  
Nesting Sites ◽  
Increase Crop Yield

Diverse forms of cultivation have evolved across the tree of life. Efficient farming requires that the farmer deciphers and actively promotes conditions that increase crop yield. For plant cultivation, this can include evaluating tradeoffs among light, nutrients, and protection against herbivores. It is not understood if, or how, nonhuman farmers evaluate local conditions to increase payoffs. Here, we address this question using an obligate farming mutualism between the ant Philidris nagasau and epiphytic plants in the genus Squamellaria that are cultivated for their nesting sites and floral rewards. We focused on the ants’ active fertilization of their crops and their protection against herbivory. We found that ants benefited from cultivating plants in full sun, receiving 7.5-fold more floral food rewards compared to shade-cultivated plants. The higher reward levels correlated with higher levels of crop protection provided by the ants. However, while high-light planting yielded the greatest immediate food rewards, sun-grown crops contained less nitrogen compared to shade-grown crops. This was due to lower nitrogen input from ants feeding on floral rewards instead of insect protein gained from predation. Despite this tradeoff, farming ants optimize crop yield by selectively planting their crops in full sun. Ancestral state reconstructions across this ant–plant clade show that a full-sun farming strategy has existed for millions of years, suggesting that nonhuman farmers have evolved the means to evaluate and balance conflicting crop needs to their own benefit.

scholarly journals Physiology of Methylotrophs Living in the Phyllosphere

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 809
Author(s):  
Hiroya Yurimoto ◽  
Kosuke Shiraishi ◽  
Yasuyoshi Sakai
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Crop Yield ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Sole Source ◽  
Current Understanding ◽  
Methylotrophic Bacteria ◽  
Cellular Mechanisms ◽  
Diurnal Cycles ◽  
Promote Plant Growth ◽  
Increase Crop Yield

Methanol is abundant in the phyllosphere, the surface of the above-ground parts of plants, and its concentration oscillates diurnally. The phyllosphere is one of the major habitats for a group of microorganisms, the so-called methylotrophs, that utilize one-carbon (C1) compounds, such as methanol and methane, as their sole source of carbon and energy. Among phyllospheric microorganisms, methanol-utilizing methylotrophic bacteria, known as pink-pigmented facultative methylotrophs (PPFMs), are the dominant colonizers of the phyllosphere, and some of them have recently been shown to have the ability to promote plant growth and increase crop yield. In addition to PPFMs, methanol-utilizing yeasts can proliferate and survive in the phyllosphere by using unique molecular and cellular mechanisms to adapt to the stressful phyllosphere environment. This review describes our current understanding of the physiology of methylotrophic bacteria and yeasts living in the phyllosphere where they are exposed to diurnal cycles of environmental conditions.

scholarly journals Application of GIS Technologies in Land Improvement in the Shabran-Sumgait Region

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 86-92
Keyword(s):  
Soil Solution ◽  
Crop Yield ◽  
Soil Cover ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Cultivated Plants ◽  
Drainage Network ◽  
Alkaline Soils ◽  
Gis Technologies ◽  
Agricultural Areas ◽  
Land Improvement

The article presents the results of a soil cover study carried out in Azerbaijan. It was found that the soils of the study area are slightly saline, which is more common on irrigated lands. Solonetzic soils are widespread in the Shabran-Sumgait region. The negative impact of alkaline soils on the development and crop yield of cultivated plants is due to the presence of soda and absorbing sodium and magnesium cations in the soil solution. It was revealed that 36.3% of soils with. Gyulamli, Shabran region, was heavily salinized. It is necessary to control the flows of the collector and drainage network in agricultural areas.

scholarly journals Bees increase crop yield in an alleged pollinator-independent almond variety

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Agustin Sáez ◽  
Marcelo A. Aizen ◽  
Sandra Medici ◽  
Matias Viel ◽  
Ethel Villalobos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crop Yield ◽  
Increase Crop Yield

scholarly journals Effectiveness of Crop Assurance Methods of Various Smart Crop Protection Systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 1799-1801
Keyword(s):  
Crop Yield ◽  
Crop Protection ◽  
Base Station ◽  
Wild Animal ◽  
Crop Damage ◽  
Forest Edges ◽  
Center Point ◽  
Crop Field ◽  
Protection Systems ◽  
Animal Attack

Crop damage due to the animal attack is one among the the principle dangers in diminishing the crop yield. The farm areas near the forest edges are unmistakably suffering from the wild animal attacks.. This surveys various methods used in many application for crop Security to redirect animal interruptions in the crop field. Most of these models in the crop field are outfitted with PIR sensors, sound creating gadgets, light flashers and some equipment module. For early discovery of the animal at the edge of the ranch interruption location framework should be introduced. Animal section at the homestead limit can be distinguished by certain hubs fixed at the limit and can be imparted to the focal base station. The progression of the center point commencement is zone based, time based and closeness based. On accepting this data the hubs inside the region of the animal actuates the hindering devices and diverts the animal far away from the area.

Repeated applications of organic amendments promote beneficial microbiota, improve soil fertility and increase crop yield

2020 ◽  
Vol 156 ◽  
pp. 103714 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuliano Bonanomi ◽  
Francesca De Filippis ◽  
Maurizio Zotti ◽  
Mohamed Idbella ◽  
Gaspare Cesarano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Crop Yield ◽  
Organic Amendments ◽  
Repeated Applications ◽  
Increase Crop Yield

scholarly journals Operating at the extreme: estimating the upper yield boundary of winter wheat production in commercial practice

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 191919
Author(s):  
Emily G. Mitchell ◽  
Neil M. J. Crout ◽  
Paul Wilson ◽  
Andrew T. A. Wood ◽  
Gilles Stupfler
Keyword(s):  
Winter Wheat ◽  
Crop Yield ◽  
Agronomic Traits ◽  
Maximum Yield ◽  
Crop Protection ◽  
Wheat Yield ◽  
Statistical Evidence ◽  
Extreme Value Analysis ◽  
Value Analysis ◽  
Winter Wheat Yield

Wheat farming provides 28.5% of global cereal production. After steady growth in average crop yield from 1950 to 1990, wheat yields have generally stagnated, which prompts the question of whether further improvements are possible. Statistical studies of agronomic parameters such as crop yield have so far exclusively focused on estimating parameters describing the whole of the data, rather than the highest yields specifically. These indicators include the mean or median yield of a crop, or finding the combinations of agronomic traits that are correlated with increasing average yields. In this paper, we take an alternative approach and consider high yields only. We carry out an extreme value analysis of winter wheat yield data collected in England and Wales between 2006 and 2015. This analysis suggests that, under current climate and growing conditions, there is indeed a finite upper bound for winter wheat yield, whose value we estimate to be 17.60 tonnes per hectare. We then refine the analysis for strata defined by either location or level of use of agricultural inputs. We find that there is no statistical evidence for variation of maximal yield depending on location, and neither is there statistical evidence that maximum yield levels are improved by high levels of crop protection and fertilizer use.

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