Beyond Monoculture: Strip-Cropping with Perennials for Climate Resilient Productivity and Enhanced Biodiversity

Austria’s Pannonian region is an important agricultural area that is facing increasing climatic stress and soil degradation. Diversifying crops and landscape structures—such as strip cropping combined with functional strips of woody and non-woody perennials—can improve crop resilience and the provision of ecosystem services, provide habitat for biodiversity, and simultaneously promote the bioeconomy. Therefore, with the goal of creating a productive landscape for the food and bioeconomy: How can landscape diversification under Pannonian conditions affect microclimate regulation, the provision of ecosystem services, the promotion of biodiversity, and the development of climate-resilient landscapes? Specific objectives include planning and conducting an experiment on landscape diversification using strip intercropping and the integration of non-woody and woody perennials, as well as quantifying the effects of landscape diversification measures on agroecosystem performance, microclimate buffering, and the promotion of biodiversity. In the Marchfeld region (BOKU “Groß Enzersdorf”), a long-term, 20-hectare experiment with three replicates is being established, comprising the following treatment variants: i) monocultures; ii) strip cropping + non-woody perennials; iii) strip cropping + woody perennials, with a 5-year cereal-legume rotation. Multidisciplinary data will be collected using sensors and through soil analyses. The results will serve as the basis for multifunctional, resilient designs that enhance ecosystem services, mitigate stress, promote biodiversity, and preserve future productive landscapes in a climate-neutral Austria.