Cultivar mixtures increase stability and productivity over time through asynchrony and complementarity

The mean values of functional traits changed in response to mixtures, leading to plant height and ear height traits correlating positively with complementarity effects, which were correlated with temporal yield stability. Asynchrony, or variation in the responses of cultivars to environmental fluctuations, was higher in four-and eight-cultivar mixtures than in two-cultivar mixtures, and negatively correlated with the deviation in temporal yield.

These results indicated that cultivars with large differences in mean trait values or that express dynamic trait responses to diversity can increase complementarity effects and asynchrony, producing more productive and stable crops. This increases our understanding of how intraspecific diversity might contribute to sustainable agroecosystems.