There has been a substantial practice for centuries to plant beneficial plants next to gardens and crop fields. These valuable plants can be large and small that provide perfect ecosystem services. We can say that these plants are the pollinators and prevent weeds from growing.
Prairie mixtures are the best for providing the services of the ecosystem. They are most famous in the grassland regions of North America. These plants also offer many other services that are unpredictable. Furthermore, it is difficult to tell what type of plants in the mixture can go well or grow well. In conclusion, Prairie is economical for crop fields and creating borders.
Study of different Prairie plants
Many researchers have been done to test this. A famous researcher Ebony Murrell and her team tested 5 perennial grains. They wanted to study them as alternatives to nine species of Prairie mix. For instance, they studied silflower, cup plant, Kerenza, sainfoin and alfalfa.
Murrell presented this research at the annual Salt Lake City, UT. She researched five different ecosystem services by the plants. She wanted to study what kind of pollinators the plants are attracted to and as biomass production, weird suppression and forage quality given by the perennial grains.
Ecosystem services by the perennial grains
According to her research, the specific characteristics of such plants can make them better or worse for providing certain ecosystem services. For example, the shape and the flower colour can attract local pollinators, whereas certain plants can produce many roots near the soil that can prevent weeds from going. Furthermore, the leaves of cup plants may also provide shade for the weed.
According to her research, people are interested in these perennial grains that provide various services. In contrast, her goal of this project was to understand and quantify how well a particular species of crop provide specific services. Furthermore, this research provided an educational interest for the growers to decide which type of plant they need depending on their individual needs.
Research findings
According to Murrell, there were three findings of the research. The results provided important details about the services that the alternatives can provide.
- According to the researchers and this research, the Prairie Mix provided the best pollinator services. It provided diversity and abundance throughout the seasons.
- Whereas the other two alternatives studied wildflower and cup plants. Both of these provided an outstanding balance of services. For instance, they proved themselves weed suppressors and gave perfect pollinator services. They also gave forage quantity and quality. In conclusion, the researchers predicted that these two were the best alternatives.
- The last outcome or the alternative was sainfoin. It performed poorly as it was not competitive with weed and did not perform any other service.
Searchers also predicted that these crops might provide many other services such as an increase in nitrogen, healthier soil and reduced erosion in the air. They are proved to be more beneficial for the environment and crops as they suppress weeds.
Murrell Predictions
According to Murrell, there are no good or bad plants because it depends on the services required by a specific field.
Furthermore, she said that “she doesn’t believe it is as simple what growers elect to plant as border crops will depend on what services they seek from their planting and harvesting requirements and the equipment needed to manage the broader crops etc. A study like this is an excellent starting point. However, it is only one point to consider when making accommodations on word border crops species to plant.”
Overall, Murrell and her co-workers suggested that their aim was only to increase the diversity of plants in the farming system. Furthermore, she added that she understands how difficult it is for the farmers. She wanted to show how perennial plants or grains can provide excellent value services in addition to diversity.
According to her, perennial grains are the Candidates as border crops that can provide relevant services such as diversity. They can encourage farmers to grow these crops to improve the diversity in farms so they do not have to sacrifice their finances. Furthermore, according to her, this is the most realistic way to improve the diversity in the agricultural landscapes.