02740naa a2200277 a 450000100080000000500110000800800410001902200140006002400360007410000140011024501630012426000090028750002310029652016480052765000180217565300160219365300240220965300330223365300160226670000140228270000180229670000160231470000140233070000170234477301010236110619662022-06-15       2021    bl uuuu     u00u1 u    #d  a0032-079X7 a10.1007/s11104-021-04916-x2DOI1 aPINTO, P.  aVariable rootbshoot ratios and plant nitrogen concentrations discourage using just aboveground biomass to select legume service crops.h[electronic resource]  c2021  aArticle history: Received 30 July 2020; Accepted 8 March 2021; Published online 22 March 2021; Issue Date June 2021. Responsible Editor: Euan K James. This work was supported by INIA (N-5271 and N-5373) and CONICET (PIP-0555).  aABSTRACT. Aims: Comparing different winter legume species by plant traits that determine their contributions to ecosystems as service crops. Since root biomass determines soil organic matter formation and biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) increases soil organic nitrogen stock, those plant traits are more suitable than shoot biomass to select service crops. Methods: We evaluated shoot and root biomass and BNF (using 15N natural abundance method) of 10 winter legume service crop species under field conditions, in two consecutive years. Results: The legumes significantly varied in shoot (3.4 to 9.1 Mg ha?1 year?1) and root biomass (0.8 to 1.3 Mg ha?1 year?1) and in the proportion and the amount of biologically fixed nitrogen (36?61% and 43?121 kg of N ha?1, respectively). Whereas shoot biomass varied between years, root and BNF were rather constant determining a low correlation between the variables. Among the evaluated species, Trifolium pratense and T. alexandrinum were the top-ranked species for the evaluated conditions, showing the largest amount of root biomass (~ 1.3 Mg ha?1 year?1) and BNF (~ 112 kg of N ha?1 year?1). Conclusions: Selecting service crops species aimed to increase soil organic matter based only on shoot biomass may be insufficient. As a consequence, we highlight the importance of performing breeding programs aimed to increase, in addition to crop yield or shoot biomass production, other plant traits such as root biomass or biological nitrogen fixation that provide key regulating and supporting ecosystem services.  © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.  aAGROECOLOGÍA  aAgroecology  aBelowground biomass  aBiological nitrogen fixation  aCover crops1 aRUBIO, G.1 aGUTIERREZ, F.1 aSAWCHIK, J.1 aARANA, S.1 aPIÑEIRO, G.  tPlant and Soil, 2021, volume 463, pages 347-358. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-021-04916-x