Do diverse cover crop mixtures perform better than monocultures? A systematic review

We conducted a systematic review that synthesizes a growing body of cover crop mixture research. The extracted data was analyzed to assess, for seven metric categories, whether cover crop mixtures can perform better than their constituent species when planted alone. Searching three databases, we identified 27 studies which compared cover crop mixtures (containing at least three species) to all their constituent species. The studies contained 119 sampled cover crop plantings that met our eligibility criteria. From these, we extracted 243 full comparisons of the best‐performing mixture and best‐performing monoculture for the selected metrics. Dataset S1 contains the best monoculture versus best mixture comparisons. Dataset S2 contains cover crop planting and sampling dates. Dataset S3 contains cover crop treatment coefficient of variation information. Dataset S4 contains cover crop treatment seeding rate information for studies where a non-substitutive design was used.Â本研究开展了一项系统综述，对日益增长的覆盖作物（cover crop）混播研究成果进行综合整合。我们对提取的数据开展分析，针对7项指标类别，评估覆盖作物混播组合（cover crop mixture）相较于其单播组成物种是否具备更优表现。通过检索3个数据库，我们共筛选出27项研究，这些研究均针对至少包含3个物种的覆盖作物混播组合，将其与所有单播组成物种进行对比。上述研究共纳入119个符合纳入标准的覆盖作物种植采样案例。基于这些案例，我们针对选定指标提取得到243组完整对比数据，分别对应表现最优的混播组合与表现最优的单作（monoculture）作物。数据集S1收录了最优单作作物与最优混播组合的对比数据；数据集S2收录了覆盖作物的种植与采样日期信息；数据集S3收录了覆盖作物处理组的变异系数（coefficient of variation）信息；数据集S4收录了采用非替代设计（non-substitutive design）的研究中，覆盖作物处理组的播种量（seeding rate）信息。