Data and R code for the manuscript "Low-density reintroduction of threatened arable plants supports biodiversity restoration in agroecosystems without reducing wheat yield"

This repository contains the datasets and R script associated with the manuscript entitled“Low-density reintroduction of threatened arable plants supports biodiversity restoration in agroecosystems without reducing wheat yield”. The data derive from a two-year field experiment (2022–2023) conducted at the University of Udine experimental farm “A. Servadei” (Udine, Italy), in collaboration with SemeNostrum Company. The study assessed the effects of low-density reintroduction (5% and 10% of crop density) of Agrostemma githago and Centaurea cyanus on wheat (Triticum aestivum) functional traits and yield. The repository provides five Excel files and one R script:• Three Excel datasets contain plant trait data for one focal arable species (Agrostemma githago or Centaurea cyanus) and wheat in a specific year (2022 or 2023). Each file includes three sheets corresponding to the different traits measured:– Sheet 1: specific leaf area (SLA) and leaf dry matter content (LDMC)– Sheet 2: root/shoot ratio (R/S)– Sheet 3: leaf chlorophyll content• Two additional datasets contain wheat-only data: one reporting the number of wheat ears per plot and another reporting the weight of 1000 seeds. Trait datasets include data for wheat and the reintroduced arable species across monocultures and mixtures at two densities (5% and 10%), following the experimental design described in the manuscript. The R script can be applied to any functional trait, species, and year combination. It performs data preprocessing, statistical analyses (linear models, Type II ANOVA, and post-hoc comparisons), and visualisation following the same workflow used in the manuscript. A README file provides detailed descriptions of each dataset, sheet, and variable. Availability: All datasets and R code are publicly available in this Zenodo repository. Please cite as:D’Agostino, M., Assolari, S., Vuerich, M., Trotta, G., Boscutti, F., & Abeli, T. (2026). Data and R code for the manuscript “Low-density reintroduction of threatened arable plants supports biodiversity restoration in agroecosystems without reducing wheat yield”. [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17486455