Testing for complementarity in phosphorus resource use by mixtures of crop species

The phosphorus (P) resource partitioning hypothesis assumes that dissimilarity in P acquisition traits among plant species leads to enhanced P uptake by crop combinations compared with their sole crops. We developed and implemented a test for this hypothesis. Two pot experiments were conducted with quartz sands. In Experiment 1, the ability of the crop species to acquire P from sparingly soluble sources (Ca phosphate (CaP), phytate (PhyP) and...