Prairie strips, or plantings of diverse perennial vegetation integrated into cropland, can have disproportionate ecological benefits compared to the amount of land they occupy. These benefits include improved water quality, reduced soil loss, reduced nutrient loss, and increased abundance and diversity of wildlife. However, the impacts of prairie strips on the adjacent cropland soil and crop health are unknown. We assessed the effect of long-term prairie strips on plant-available nutrients in adjacent soils (from 0.1 to 9 m distance from prairie strips), gravimetric soil moisture, soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) and maize (Zea mays L.) leaf greenness (via soil plant analysis development or SPAD), and yield. Our results show strong effects of prairie strips on plant-available nutrients and early crop health in adjacent soils but little effect on soybean and maize grain yields. The prairie strip effects were strongly determined by crop (maize vs. soybean) but also likely climate. Prairie strips reduced soil moisture by 6% in adjacent cropland soils (<1 m) during a wet year, decreased salt-extractable nitrate by 23%, and increased Mehlich-III phosphorus and potassium by 63% and 24%, respectively, upslope compared to downslope from the prairie strip. Prairie strips had a marginal benefit to soybean SPAD but decreased maize SPAD by 7% within 1 m of the prairie strip. While prairie strips can significantly affect soils under adjacent cropland, they have little effect on crop yield.

草原地带，或与农田融为一体的多种多年生植被种植，与其占用的土地数量相比，可能具有不成比例的生态效益。这些好处包括改善水质、减少土壤流失、减少养分流失，以及增加野生动物的数量和多样性。然而，草原地带对邻近农田土壤和作物健康的影响尚不清楚。我们评估了长期草原带对相邻土壤（距草原带 0.1 至 9 m 的距离）、土壤重量土壤水分、大豆（ Glycine max (L.) Merr.）和玉米（ Zea mays ）植物可利用养分的影响L.) 叶绿度（通过土壤植物分析开发或 SPAD）和产量。我们的结果表明，草原带对邻近土壤中植物可利用养分和早期作物健康有很大影响，但对大豆和玉米产量影响很小。草原地带的影响很大程度上取决于作物（玉米与大豆），但也可能是气候。与上坡相比，草原带在潮湿的年份使邻近农田土壤（<1 m）的土壤水分减少了 6%，可盐分提取的硝酸盐减少了 23%，Mehlich-III 磷和钾分别增加了 63% 和 24%从草原带下坡。草原地带对大豆 SPAD 有边际效益，但在草原地带 1 米范围内，玉米 SPAD 减少了 7%。虽然草原地带会显着影响邻近农田下的土壤，