Mixed-Species Plantations Intercropping mixtures involve two or more species of greatly different initial growth rates or products.
Mixed monotypes involves planting patches of species adjacent to each other.
True mixtures are intimate mixtures of species where the arrangement of species is by alternate rows, haphazard, or by some fixed planting scheme. A species that provides timber products, mast production or wildlife habitat at later ages could be intercropped with the cottonwood. Relay intercropping occurs when species are grown together for part of the rotation of either species. Maintenance of a more diverse overstory is not an objective of relay intercropping. In contrast, commercial timber species could be intercropped with species of smaller stature that are beneficial to wildlife, provide showy flowers, or fix nitrogen.