Data from: Cover crop composition, not diversity, drives agroecosystem multifunctionality and wheat yield

However, legacy effects of diverse cover crops on agricultural soil properties, microorganisms, and crop yields remain unclear. To address this knowledge gap, we planted six species of cover crops individually, in functional group combinations (representing oilseeds, grasses, or legumes), or with all species combined (high diversity treatment).

We then investigated how cover crop treatment affected winter wheat yield, soil biogeochemical properties, microbial community composition, and ecosystem multifunctionality. Contrary to our expectations, the high diversity treatment reduced wheat yield and minimally affected soil properties relative to the fallow control. We observed the greatest positive impact on agroecosystem multifunctionality and wheat yield in the oilseed + legume treatment.