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An overview of the multi-environmental trial (MET) dataset containing 24 traits of winter wheat collected across six locations in Germany (GGE, HAN, KAL, KIE, QLB, RHH) with nine managements during six years (2015–2020). (a) Density plot of four agronomic traits (harvest index, grain number, grain yield and straw dry mass at maturity) as examples to demonstrate the effect of managements (M) on traits distributions across 29 combinations of year by location (Y/L). (b) Total number of observations for 24 traits across all combinations of growing conditions (year by location by management; Y/L/M) from sampling sources collected from 50 cm cut and whole plot. Abbreviation of locations: Gross Gerau (GGE), Hannover (HAN), Klein Altendorf (KAL), Kiel (KIE), Quedlinburg (QLB), and Rauischholzhausen (RHH). Un-balanced nine managements comprise of three treatments: nitrogen fertilizer, fungicide application and water availability. Nitrogen treatments has two levels: high (HN: 220 kg N ha⁻¹) and low (LN: 110 kg N ha⁻¹). Fungicide treatment contains two application levels: with (WF) or without (NF) fungicide application. Water availability treatment has three levels: rain-fed (RF), irrigated (IR) and covered with rainout-shelter (RO).
Source publication
Multi-environmental trials (MET) with temporal and spatial variance are crucial for understanding genotype-environment-management (GxExM) interactions in crops. Here, we present a MET dataset for winter wheat in Germany. The dataset encompasses MET spanning six years (2015–2020), six locations and nine crop management scenarios (consisting of combi...
Citations
Breeders work to adapt winter wheat genotypes for high planting densities to pursue sustainable intensification and maximize canopy productivity. Although the effects of plant-plant competition at high planting density have been extensively reported, the quantitative relationship between competitiveness and plant performance remains unclear. In this study, we introduced a shoot competitiveness index (SCI) to quantify the competitiveness of genotypes and examined the dynamics of nine competitiveness-related traits in 200 winter wheat genotypes grown in heterogeneous canopies at two planting densities. Higher planting densities increased shoot length but reduced biomass, tiller numbers, and leaf mass per area (LMA), with trait plasticity showing at least 41% variation between genotypes. Surprisingly, genotypes with higher LMA at low density exhibited greater decreases under high density, challenging expectations from game theory. Regression analysis identified tiller number, LMA, and shoot length as key traits influencing performance under high density. Contrary to our hypothesis, early competitiveness did not guarantee sustained performance, revealing the dynamic nature of plant-plant competition. Our evaluation of breeding progress across the panel revealed a declining trend in SCI (R² = 0.61), aligning with the breeding objective of reducing plant height to reduce individual competitiveness and increase the plant-plant cooperation. The absence of historical trends in functional traits and their plasticities, such as tiller number and LMA, suggests their potential for designing ideal trait-plasticity for plant-plant cooperation and further crop improvement.
