DOI: 10.5061/dryad.9s4mw6mw6
title: Data from: Undersowing rare arable plants in cereals as a new instrument in weed management - restoration ecology meets weed science

description: Weed control is necessary in agriculture, but it is also known to be one
 of the main drivers of plant biodiversity loss in agricultural landscapes.
 Since biodiversity is essential for ecosystem service provision, new
 approaches in weed management are needed to simultaneously increase
 biodiversity and prevent yield losses due to weed competition. In this
 study, we investigated the establishment of undersowing cereals with rare
 arable plant (RAP) species, their weed suppression ability, and influence
 on spring barley yield. We collected data at the species level for RAP and
 weed coverage and their fluctuations during a three-year on-farm trial
 (Hirrlingen), supplemented by a second one-year on-farm trial
 (Bettenreute) to confirm the results, both located in Southwestern
 Germany. The experiments were set up as randomised complete block designs
 with four treatments consisting of a control (1), a topsoil translocation
 (4), and two treatments with seeded RAP species mixtures at two levels
 (low (2) vs. high (3) number of seeds). Main analyses were done using
 plant coverage data (assessed according to Braun-Blanquet and
 re-transformed according to van der Maarel (2007)), and yield data (spring
 barley; each location for one season) for both locations. Biomass was only
 analysed for Bettenreute.
description: # Data from: Undersowing rare arable plants in cereals as a new instrument
 in weed management - restoration ecology meets weed science Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.9s4mw6mw6](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.9s4mw6mw6) ##
 Description of the data and file structure We set up two trials as
 randomised complete block designs with four repetitions. The treatment
 plot size at Hirrlingen was 2 m x 5 m and, at Bettenreute, 1.35 m x 8 m,
 all with the longer side of the plots in sowing direction of the crop. To
 evaluate the growth behaviour of RAP as well as common weeds over the
 years, we used nondestructive vegetation surveys. In each growing season,
 we conducted a vegetation survey before crop harvest when RAP were in BBCH
 growth stages 55 – 75. For the vegetation surveys, we assessed whole
 treatment plots using the extended Braun-Blanquet cover-abundance scale
 (Wilmanns, 1998). Each species of segetal plants in each replicate of
 every treatment was assigned a Braun-Blanquet score. Later, we transformed
 the Braun-Blanquet scores into coverage (%) by using the median of the
 proposed percentage classes of each score for better applicability
 according to van der Maarel (2007). Crop cover was excluded in the
 surveys. To support the coverage data, we additionally conducted a biomass
 cut at Bettenreute one day after the vegetation survey for each RAP
 species, respectively, and jointly for all common weeds (in dry biomass g
 m ^-2^). For the yield assessment at Hirrlingen in 2021 and at Bettenreute
 in 2023 we counted tillers of spring barley four times per plot randomly
 via sampling quadrats of 33 cm x 33 cm and number of grains per ear four
 times at five randomly chosen ears. To determine the thousand grain weight
 (TGW), we randomly cut 50 ears of barley four times per plot and threshed
 them with a laboratory thresher (Haldrup, Ilshofen, Germany). Then we
 counted the thousand grains for every repetition of every plot by seed
 counter (Pfeuffer, Kitzingen, Germany), dried those for 24 h, and weighted
 each sample afterwards. Yield predictions were calculated in t ha ^-1^
 according to equation (1):       yield = ((tillers x grains per ear x
 thousand grain weight)/1000)/100    (1) ### Files and variables #### File:
 Undersowing_rare_arable_plants_raw_data.xlsx **Description:** Used raw
 data for the analysis of the Manuscript "Undersowing rare arable
 plants in cereals as a new instrument in weed management – restoration
 ecology meets weed science". **Sheets:** 1. Site_Year of the
 respective survey on rare arable plants (RAP) * Replicate (Block 1 - 4) *
 Treatment (1 = control, 2 = RAP sown in low densities, 3 = RAP sown in
 high densities, 4 = topsoil translocation) * Plot number (not in order,
 just as the plots were layed out across the experimental sites) * Total
 abundance arable plant (coverage of all plants except crop for the
 respective plot) / RAP coverage (coverage of all RAP for the respective
 plot, only at Bettenreute) * Species / Species EPPO (Name and/or EPPO Code
 ([https://gd.eppo.int/](https://gd.eppo.int/)) of the assessed species) *
 Abundance species in perc (% coverage of the respective species, according
 to Braun-Blanquet and back-transformed according to van der Maarel (2007))
 2. Yield -&gt; including both sites with each one year of data * Site
 (Hirrlingen or Bettenreute) * Year (2021 for Hirrlingen, 2023 for
 Bettenreute) * Treatment / Replicate (s.o.) * Yield in t ha ^-1^ ( Yield
 of spring barley) 3. Biomass\_ Bettenreute -&gt; Only biomass data from
 this site 2023 * Biomass weed g m ^-2^ (Bomass of all weed plants for the
 respective plot calculated in g m ^-2^) * Biomass RAP g m ^-2^ (Biomass of
 all RAP plants for the respective plot calculated in g m ^-2^) * Biomass
 Species g m ^-2^ (Biomass of all weed and RAP plants combined for the
 respective plot calculated in g m ^-2^) ## Code/software Microsoft Excel
 is needed to view the data.