DOI: 10.5061/dryad.w6m905qxm
title: Data from: The interplay of intercropping, wildflower strips and weeds in conservation biological control and productivity

description: Diversifying agroecosystems is instrumental to reduce pesticide use in
 agriculture. While different diversification practices have the potential
 to reduce pests, their integration at the agroecosystem level and the
 evaluation of their multifunctional effects remain limited. Through a
 two-year field experiment conducted in Germany, we tested whether
 associating intercropping (faba bean-wheat, followed by breadseed
 poppy-barley) with pluriannual wildflower strips strengthens the
 biological regulation of aphid pests and weeds, and enhances cropping
 system productivity. The contribution of flowering weeds to conservation
 biological control was also analysed. Aphid colonization rates, but also
 predator colonization and predation rates, on bean and poppy were
 consistently lower in intercropping compared to sole cropping. Associating
 wildflower strips to intercropping enhanced aphid predation in bean-wheat
 intercropping, and further reduced aphid colonization at 10 m distance
 from the flower strip but not at 20 m in poppy-barley intercropping. Weed
 biomass was strongly reduced in intercropping compared to sole crop bean
 and poppy, and did not significantly affect bean and poppy yields in
 intercropping. The cover of one flowering weed species, Matricaria
 recutita, was negatively correlated to aphid colonization rate and
 positively correlated to predation rate in bean-wheat intercropping. In
 poppy-barley intercropping, M. recutita flowers were visited more often by
 predatory hoverflies in plots adjacent to wildflower strips. Finally, land
 equivalent ratio, measuring land-use efficiency, was consistently higher
 than 1, and the highest in bean-wheat intercropping associated to
 wildflower strips. The study shows that intercropping is key to control
 multiple pests and enhance land-use efficiency, and demonstrates that
 associating wildflower strips to intercropping can strengthen biological
 control and cropping system productivity. Flowering weeds, maintained at
 an acceptable level through intercropping, turn out to be relevant
 functional biodiversity in interacting with wildflower strips to support
 natural enemies for conservation biological control.
description: The data are retrieved from a field experiment conducted in
 Germany (50°47’14N, 7°16’38E; city: Hennef) in organic farming conditions
 during the years 2020-2022. The experiment tested
 whether increasing crop diversity (sole cropping vs. intercropping) and
 field margin management (wildflower strip vs. crop strip) affects
 biological control of insect pests (aphids), weed biomass and productivity
 (crop yield, land-equivalent ratio). In addition in the intercropping
 systems, the experiment analysed the relationship between weed flowers and
 insects towards biological control. Studied crops were
 faba bean (<em>Vicia faba</em>) and wheat (<em>Triticum
 aestivum</em>) in 2020-2021, and breadseed poppy (<em>Papaver
 somniferum</em>) and barley (<em>Hordeum vulgare</em>)
 in 2022. All data were collected in quadrats (1m2
 surface). One quadrat is always defined by the type of “Margin” (flower
 vs. control), “Cropping_system” (intercropping, sole cropping) and
 “Distance_(m)” (10 vs. 20, sometimes also 10_weed_free) and the experiment
 “Block” (1 to 4). For more information, please refer to
 the Material and Methods of the published article.
description: # The interplay of intercropping, wildflower strips and weeds in
 conservation biological control and productivity
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.w6m905qxm](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.w6m905qxm) The data are retrieved from a field experiment conducted in Germany (50°47’14N, 7°16’38E; city: Hennef) in organic farming conditions during the years 2020-2022. The experiment tested whether increasing crop diversity (sole cropping vs. intercropping) and field margin management (wildflower strip vs. crop strip) affects: * Aphid infestation and predator colonization rate: **Hatt_and_Doering_2024_aphid_and_predator_rates.csv** * Predation rate of aphids by predators: **Hatt_and_Doering_2024_predation_rates.csv** * Weed biomass at harvest: **Hatt_and_Doering_2024_weed_biomass.csv** * Crop yield: **Hatt_and_Doering_2024_grain_yield_crop.csv** In addition in the intercropping systems, the experiment analysed the relationship between weed flowers and insects with the following datasets: * Abundance of flowering weeds: * **Hatt_and_Doering_2024_blooming_weeds_2021.csv** * **Hatt_and_Doering_2024_blooming_weed_flower_area_2021.csv** * **Hatt_and_Doering_2024_blooming_weeds_2022.csv** * **Hatt_and_Doering_2024_insect_weed_flower_interactions_2022.csv** Studied crops were faba bean (*Vicia faba*) and wheat (*Triticum aestivum*) in 2020-2021, and breadseed poppy (*Papaver somniferum*) and barley (*Hordeum vulgare*) in 2022. All data were collected in quadrats (1m2 surface). One quadrat is always defined by the type of “Margin” (flower vs. control), “Cropping_system” (intercropping, sole cropping) and “Distance_(m)” (10 vs. 20, sometimes also 10_weed_free) and the experiment “Block” (1 to 4). ## Description of the data and file structure **Hatt_and_Doering_2024_aphid_and_predator_rates.csv** – Aphid infestation rate (“Aphid_rate”) and predator colonization rate (“Predator_rate”) per quadrat on faba bean (2021, 2 samplings) and breadseed poppy (2022, 1 sampling) in sole cropping and in intercropping. Values are rates, comprised between 0 and 1. **Hatt_and_Doering_2024_predation_rates.csv** – Predation rate (“Predation_rate”) evaluated by using two predation cards (“Card_no”) per quadrat on faba bean (2021, 2 samplings) and breadseed poppy (2022, 1 sampling) in sole cropping and in intercropping. Values are rates (number of aphids preyed divided by five aphids originally glued), comprised between 0 and 1. **Hatt_and_Doering_2024_weed_biomass.csv** – Biomass of weeds (“Weed_biomass_(g)”) harvested at crop harvest in each quadrat (intercropping and the two sole cropping) in 2021 and 2022. They are absolute values in grams. **Hatt_and_Doering_2024_grain_yield_crop.csv** – Grain yield (“Grain_yield_(g)”) of faba bean (2021) and breadseed poppy (2022) in each quadrat (intercropping and the two sole cropping, including also the weed-free quadrats in intercropping). They are absolute values in grams. Grain yield was used also to calculate land-equivalent ratios, and the relative difference of yield between regular and weed-free quadrats in intercropping (at 10 m). **Hatt_and_Doering_2024_blooming_weeds_2021.csv** – Abundance of weed species flowering found in the intercropping quadrats monitored over five samplings in 2021 (4 May, 19 May, 7 June, 25 June and 13 July 2021). Values are the number of inflorescences for *Matricaria recutita* and *Papaver rhoes*, or the number of individual plants for all the other species/genus. **Hatt_and_Doering_2024_blooming_weed_flower_area_2021.csv** – Area of weed flowers for the species found in the intercropping quadrats in 2021. Area values are in cm2. Inflorescence areas are given either at the scale of the individual plant (“Average_flower_area_per_plant_cm2”), or at the scale of the inflorescence (“Average_area_per_flower_cm2”, for *Matricaria recutita* and *Papaver rhoeas*). **Hatt_and_Doering_2024_blooming_weeds_2022.csv** – Abundance weed species (“Plant_species”) flowering found in quadrats (intercropping only) monitored on 4 July 2022. These data are to be related with the observations of insect-flower visitations done on the same day. Values are the number of inflorescences (“Inflorescence_abundance”). **Hatt_and_Doering_2024_insect_weed_flower_interactions_2022.csv** – Number of visitations of weed flowers by insects (“Insect_taxa”) in quadrats (intercropping only) monitored on 4 July 2022. Each line represents one insect individual (“Insect_no”), and the values per plant species represents the number of contacts by this insect. Hence, the data allows calculating both the number of insects observed by taxa, and the number of insect-flower interactions.