Beetles, roots and yields: exploring the edge effects of agro-ecosystem diversity on three different scales

Summary

Edge effects on three different scales were assessed in a diverse strip cropping system at Droevendaal, the organic farm of the Wageningen University and Research Centre in the Netherlands. Research for this thesis was conducted in an experimental field consisting of eight strips subdivided into twelve plots, out of which half consisted of monocultures. The other plots either consisted of different varieties of the respective crop or were intercropped. Statistically significant differences between treatments and rows were detected by fitting generalized linear models to the data and the consecutive post-hoc tests (Tukey’s HSD test). For the detection of differences in Nitrogen content, Welch’s t-tests were employed.