Arthropod associated plant diversity in strip cropping systems at four sites in Hesse, Germany

To create sustainable agricultural system, the present study as part of the TRIO-project (“Transformative Intercropping Systems for One Health”) aims to transform the agricultural system through eco-functional intensification using mixed cropping with summer wheat and various medicinal and aromatic plants. Using metabarcoding of mixed sweep netting samples, this study examined arthropod diversity and community composition together with their associated plant resources in relation to different farm management practices at four experimental sites. All sampling sites are situated in Hesse, Germany: Domaene Frankenhausen (DFH) near Kassel, Weilburger Grenze (WBG) near Giessen, and Gross Gerau (GGE) and Forschungsring (FOR) near Darmstadt. Sampling sites are either farmed organically (DFH and FOR) or conventionally (GGE and WBG). At each of the four sites the identical experimental cropping system was implemented in a fully randomized one-factorial split-plot design with either pure stands of summer wheat, caraway and coriander or as split plots with stripes of summer wheat and one of the medicinal plants. Here we present samples produced from associated plant pollen taken from crop visiting arthropods. The locus used was ITS2.