Replacing conventional monocultures with high diversity agroecosystems can positively impact environmental quality, but their adoption is limited, in part, due to inadequate understanding of how these systems operate regarding belowground competition. We examined how root competition between breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) and māmaki (Pipturus albidus) affected aboveground performance under three different establishment treatments: breadfruit first, māmaki first, and simultaneous establishment. Our 2x3 factorial design consists of two competition treatments and the three establishment treatments. Plants were grown together on either side of 47-gallon pots. For non-competition groups, a sheet of vinyl plastic was used to keep the roots of each species separate while maintaining above ground conditions. We used root cores to quantify the spatial allocation of root biomass to explore competition strategies of the two crops and measured biomass production to determine how growth was affected by competition. Our results demonstrate different effects, with breadfruit above ground biomass (AGBM) decreased and māmaki AGBM increased under competition. Below ground biomass increased for both plants under competition. Prior establishment enhanced māmaki’s response to competition, while breadfruit’s response to competition was exacerbated by post establishment and mitigated by simultaneous establishment. We suggest that māmaki’s response is due to a more aggressive strategy that targets resource patches, while breadfruit is unable to compete within established māmaki zones and employs an avoidance strategy for root allocation.

用高度多样性的农业生态系统取代传统的单作养殖会对环境质量产生积极影响，但由于对地下竞争对这些系统的运作方式了解不足，其采用受到一定限制。我们研究了面包果（Artocarpus altilis）和māmaki（Pipturus albidus）之间的根系竞争在三种不同的处理方式下如何影响地上性能：面包果优先，māmaki首先和同时建立。我们的2x3析因设计包含两种竞争处理和三种基础处理。将植物在47加仑盆的两边一起种植。对于非竞赛类，使用乙烯基塑料薄板将每个物种的根分开，同时保持高于地面的条件。我们使用根核对根生物量的空间分配进行定量，以探索两种作物的竞争策略，并测量生物量产量，以确定竞争如何影响生长。我们的结果表明了不同的影响，在竞争下地上面包果的生物量（AGBM）减少，makim AGBM增加。竞争下的两种植物的地下生物量都增加了。建立之前，增强了mamaki对竞争的响应，而建立后职位则加剧了面包果对竞争的响应，而同时建立则减轻了面包果对竞争的响应。我们建议mamaki的反应是由于针对资源补丁的更具侵略性的策略，而面包果无法在既定的makim区域内竞争，因此采用了避免策略进行根分配。