IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/agisys/v231y2026ics0308521x25002410.html

Quantifying intercropping water advantages: A novel cosine similarity framework linking root water uptake patterns to productivity

Author

Listed:
  • Liu, Yingbo
  • Yuan, Yusen
  • Du, Taisheng

Abstract

Intercropping modifies soil water dynamics through complex interspecific interactions crucial for enhancing water productivity. However, quantitative assessment of its productivity based on underlying water utilization processes remains a critical gap. Thus, novel methodologies are needed to evaluate water use patterns-productivity relationships in agricultural systems with interactions.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Yingbo & Yuan, Yusen & Du, Taisheng, 2026. "Quantifying intercropping water advantages: A novel cosine similarity framework linking root water uptake patterns to productivity," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:231:y:2026:i:c:s0308521x25002410
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104501
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X25002410
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104501?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yin, Wen & Chai, Qiang & Zhao, Cai & Yu, Aizhong & Fan, Zhilong & Hu, Falong & Fan, Hong & Guo, Yao & Coulter, Jeffrey A., 2020. "Water utilization in intercropping: A review," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    2. Bai, Wei & Sun, Zhanxiang & Zheng, Jiaming & Du, Guijuan & Feng, Liangshan & Cai, Qian & Yang, Ning & Feng, Chen & Zhang, Zhe & Evers, Jochem B. & van der Werf, Wopke & Zhang, Lizhen, 2016. "Mixing trees and crops increases land and water use efficiencies in a semi-arid area," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 281-290.
    3. Mugi-Ngenga, E. & Bastiaans, L. & Anten, N.P.R. & Zingore, S. & Baijukya, F. & Giller, K.E., 2023. "The role of inter-specific competition for water in maize-legume intercropping systems in northern Tanzania," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    4. Hou, Chenli & Tian, Delong & Xu, Bing & Ren, Jie & Hao, Lei & Chen, Ning & Li, Xianyue, 2021. "Use of the stable oxygen isotope method to evaluate the difference in water consumption and utilization strategy between alfalfa and maize fields in an arid shallow groundwater area," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    5. Wang, Wei & Li, Meng-Ying & Gong, Dong-Shan & Zhou, Rui & Khan, Aziz & Zhu, Ying & Zhu, Hao & Abrar, Muhammad & Zhu, Shuang-Guo & Wang, Bao-Zhong & Song, Chao & Xiong, You-Cai, 2022. "Water use of intercropped species: Maize-soybean, soybean-wheat and wheat-maize," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    6. Wu, Junen & Zeng, Huanhuan & Chen, Chunfeng & Liu, Wenjie, 2019. "Can intercropping with the Chinese medicinal herbs change the water use of the aged rubber trees?," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    7. Liu, Yingbo & Yuan, Yusen & Zhang, Liang & Du, Taisheng, 2024. "Exploring the differences of moisture traceability methods based on MixSIAR model under different nitrogen applications of wheat in the Arid Region of Northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 294(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sun, Tianran & Sun, Zhanxiang & Zhang, Zhe & Zhang, Yue & Guo, Yajiaoxue & Zhang, Jinyu & Nie, Jiayi & Dong, Zhi & Zhang, Zeshan & Zhang, Chenjia & Zhang, Xu & Feng, Chen & Zhang, Lizhen, 2025. "Night transpiration of peanut affects interspecific water complementarity and use efficiency in maize/peanut intercropping," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).
    2. Li, Yanni & You, Junting & Yang, Shangtong & Zhang, Zhe & Huang, Siying & Li, Guochun & Sun, Jun & Lv, Chang & Wu, Menglong & Niu, Wenquan & Gao, Qirui & Siddique, Kadambot H.M., 2025. "Quantification of water uptake by winter wheat roots under different dripline burial depths using hydrogen and oxygen stable isotopes," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).
    3. Shi, Duo-Peng & Liu, Ying-Bo & Cui, Yun-Ling & Zhao, An-Yu & Sun, He-Zhe & Xue, Liang & Cong, Wen-Feng & Raza, Muhammad Ali & Zhang, Li-Qin, 2025. "Stable water isotope analysis of plant-soil interspecific interactions in wheat-maize intercropping," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 319(C).
    4. Shah Fahad & Sangram Bhanudas Chavan & Akash Ravindra Chichaghare & Appanderanda Ramani Uthappa & Manish Kumar & Vijaysinha Kakade & Aliza Pradhan & Dinesh Jinger & Gauri Rawale & Dinesh Kumar Yadav &, 2022. "Agroforestry Systems for Soil Health Improvement and Maintenance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-25, November.
    5. Qinqin Xu & Kangning Xiong & Yongkuan Chi & Shuzhen Song, 2021. "Effects of Crop and Grass Intercropping on the Soil Environment in the Karst Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-14, May.
    6. Liu, Ziqiang & Jia, Guodong & Yu, Xinxiao, 2020. "Water uptake and WUE of Apple tree-Corn Agroforestry in the Loess hilly region of China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    7. Tshering Choden & Bhim Bahadur Ghaley, 2021. "A Portfolio of Effective Water and Soil Conservation Practices for Arable Production Systems in Europe and North Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-18, March.
    8. Helena Žalac & Vladimir Zebec & Vladimir Ivezić & Goran Herman, 2022. "Land and Water Productivity in Intercropped Systems of Walnut—Buckwheat and Walnut–Barley: A Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-14, May.
    9. Chen, Lu & Luo, Yong & Tang, Jialiang & Zhang, Xifeng & Liu, Haowen & Cui, Junfang & Zheng, Jing & Dong, Xiaoming, 2024. "Determination of optimum solum thickness of sloping cropland for maize plantation in an Entisol based on water use strategy and plant traits," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 299(C).
    10. Yang, Bin & Meng, Xianjing & Zhu, Xiai & Zakari, Sissou & Singh, Ashutosh K. & Bibi, Farkhanda & Mei, Nan & Song, Liang & Liu, Wenjie, 2021. "Coffee performs better than amomum as a candidate in the rubber agroforestry system: Insights from water relations," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    11. Wang, Zikui & Wu, Yuhuan & Cao, Quan & Shen, Yuying & Zhang, Baoqing, 2021. "Modeling the coupling processes of evapotranspiration and soil water balance in agroforestry systems," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 250(C).
    12. Wenwen Wei & Tingting Liu & Lei Shen & Xiuyuan Wang & Shuai Zhang & Wei Zhang, 2022. "Effect of Maize ( Zeal mays ) and Soybean ( Glycine max ) Intercropping on Yield and Root Development in Xinjiang, China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-16, July.
    13. Wen, Lei & Yu, Shuolei & Liao, Zhenqi & Hemat, Mahmood & Yu, Jiang & Zhang, Fucang & Li, Zhijun & Fan, Junliang, 2026. "Synergistic effects of row configuration and nitrogen level on water utilization and system productivity in maize/soybean strip intercropping system on the Loess Plateau of China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 323(C).
    14. Wang, Liping & Yin, Wen & Li, Pan & Guo, Yao & Zhao, Lianhao & Wan, Pingxing & Zhang, Diankai & Fan, Zhilong & Hu, Falong & He, Wei & Nan, Yunyou & Chai, Qiang & Zhang, Baoqing & Chen, Heyu & Abdalla,, 2025. "No tillage with plastic re-mulching enhances yield stability and maintains high water productivity of maize by improving water eco-physiology and root traits in northwest oasis regions," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 318(C).
    15. Qin, Shujing & Li, Sien & Cheng, Lei & Zhang, Lu & Qiu, Rangjian & Liu, Pan & Xi, Haiyang, 2023. "Partitioning evapotranspiration in partially mulched interplanted croplands by improving the Shuttleworth-Wallace model," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    16. Junhong Xie & Linlin Wang & Lingling Li & Sumera Anwar & Zhuzhu Luo & Effah Zechariah & Setor Kwami Fudjoe, 2021. "Yield, Economic Benefit, Soil Water Balance, and Water Use Efficiency of Intercropped Maize/Potato in Responses to Mulching Practices on the Semiarid Loess Plateau," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-16, November.
    17. Morugán-Coronado, Alicia & Linares, Carlos & Gómez-López, María Dolores & Faz, Ángel & Zornoza, Raúl, 2020. "The impact of intercropping, tillage and fertilizer type on soil and crop yield in fruit orchards under Mediterranean conditions: A meta-analysis of field studies," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    18. Li, Junjie & Qu, Zhongyi & Yang, Wei & Hasi, Gerile & Wang, Liping & Zhang, Ruxin & Zhang, Dongliang, 2026. "Soil water and salt migration characteristics under freezing saline water irrigation: An isotope tracing and phase analysis perspective," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 324(C).
    19. Francesco Reyes & Marie Gosme & Kevin J. Wolz & Isabelle Lecomte & Christian Dupraz, 2021. "Alley Cropping Mitigates the Impacts of Climate Change on a Wheat Crop in a Mediterranean Environment: A Biophysical Model-Based Assessment," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-18, April.
    20. Zheng, Chenghao & Wang, Ruoshui & Zhou, Xuan & Li, Chaonan & Dou, Xiaoyu, 2021. "Effects of mulch and irrigation regimes on water distribution and root competition in an apple–soybean intercropping system in Loess Plateau, China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:231:y:2026:i:c:s0308521x25002410. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/agsy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.