Oil palm is the most productive oil crop, but its high productivity is associated with conventional management (that is, high fertilization rates and herbicide application), causing deleterious environmental impacts. Using a 2² factorial experiment, we assessed the effects of conventional vs reduced (equal to nutrients removed by fruit harvest) fertilization rates and herbicide vs mechanical weeding on ecosystem functions, biodiversity and profitability. Analysing across multiple ecosystem functions, mechanical weeding exhibited higher multifunctionality than herbicide treatment, although this effect was concealed when evaluating only for individual functions. Biodiversity was also enhanced, driven by 33% more plant species under mechanical weeding. Compared with conventional management, reduced fertilization and mechanical weeding increased profit by 12% and relative gross margin by 11% due to reductions in material costs, while attaining similar yields. Mechanical weeding with reduced, compensatory fertilization in mature oil palm plantations is a tenable management option for enhancing ecosystem multifunctionality and biodiversity and increasing profit, providing win–win situations.

Conventional management of oil palm plantations, involving high fertilization rate and herbicide application, results in high yield but with large soil greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study aimed to assess a practical alternative to conventional management, namely reduced fertilization with mechanical weeding, to decrease soil GHG emissions without sacrificing production. We established a full factorial experiment with two fertilization rates (conventional and reduced fertilization, equal to nutrients exported via fruit harvest) and two weeding methods (herbicide and mechanical), each with four replicate plots, since 2016 in a ≥ 15-year-old, large-scale oil palm plantation in Indonesia. Soil CO₂, N₂O, and CH₄ fluxes were measured during 2019–2020, and yield was measured during 2017–2020. Fresh fruit yield (30 ± 1 $\mathrm{Mg}{\mathrm{ha}}^{-\mathrm{1}}{\mathrm{yr}}^{-\mathrm{1}}$ ) and soil GHG fluxes did not differ among treatments (P≥ 0.11), implying legacy effects of over a decade of conventional management prior to the start of the experiment. Annual soil GHG fluxes were 5.5 ± 0.2 Mg CO₂-C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹, 3.6 ± 0.7 kg N₂O-N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹, and −1.5 ± 0.1 kg CH₄-C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ across treatments. The palm circle, where fertilizers are commonly applied, covered 18 % of the plantation area but accounted for 79 % of soil N₂O emission. The net primary production of this oil palm plantation was 17 150 ± 260 $\mathrm{kg}\mathrm{C}{\mathrm{ha}}^{-\mathrm{1}}{\mathrm{yr}}^{-\mathrm{1}}$ , but 62 % of this was removed by fruit harvest. The global warming potential of this planation was 3010 ± 750 $\mathrm{kg}{\mathrm{CO}}_{\mathrm{2}}\mathrm{eq}{\mathrm{ha}}^{-\mathrm{1}}{\mathrm{yr}}^{-\mathrm{1}}$ , of which 55 % was contributed by soil N₂O emission and only < 2 % offset by the soil CH₄ sink.

Conventional intensive management, such as high fertilizer and herbicide applications, are common practice in large-scale oil palm plantations. One of the proposed solutions to lessen its environmental impact is to reduce fertilization and employ mechanical weeding without sacrificing yield and profit. A full factorial experiment with two fertilization rates (260 N, 50 P, 220 K kg ha-1 yr-1 as conventional practice, and 136 N, 17 P, 187 K kg ha-1 yr-1, equal to harvest export, as reduced management) and two weeding methods (conventional herbicide application, and mechanical weeding as reduced management) was established in 2016 at a large-scale oil palm plantation (planted in 1998-2002) on a sandy clay loam Acrisol soil in Jambi, Indonesia. Soil CO2, N2O, and CH4 fluxes were measured monthly from July 2019 to June 2020, using vented static chambers. At each plot, the measurements were conducted on two randomly selected subplots, and in each subplot, we measured at three management zones (palm circle, inter-row, and frond-stacked area). During 2017-2020, fruit yield did not differ among treatments (fertilization: P=0.35; weeding control: P=0.11). Soil CO2, N2O, and CH4 fluxes also did not differ among treatments (fertilization: P>0.81; weeding control: P>0.28). Area-weighted from the three management zones, soil CO2 fluxes (mg C m-2 h-1) were 61±2 for conventional and 65±4 for reduced fertilization and 64±4 for herbicide and 62±2 for mechanical weeding. Soil N2O fluxes (µg N m-2 h-1) were 46±12 for conventional and 45±16 for reduced fertilization and 57±15 for herbicide and 34±12 for mechanical weeding. Soil CH4 fluxes (µg C m-2 h-1) were -17±2 for conventional and -17±3 for reduced fertilization and -17±3 for herbicide and -17±2 for mechanical weeding. Distinct differences were observed among the three management zones. Frond-stacked area, with high soil organic carbon and low soil bulk density, had the highest soil CO2 emission and soil CH4 uptake (P≤0.01). Palm circle, with fertilizer application and high soil bulk density, had the highest soil N2O emission and lowest soil CH4 uptake (P≤0.01). Inter-row area, with low soil organic carbon and no direct fertilizer application, had the lowest soil CO2 and N2O emission (P≤0.01). Soil CO2 (rho=0.64, P≤0.05) and N2O (rho=0.53, P≤0.05) fluxes were positively correlated with total mineral N. Soil CH4 flux was negatively correlated with total mineral N (rho=-0.30, P≤0.05) and positively correlated with water-filled pore space (rho=0.66, P≤0.05). Although the frond-stacked area only accounted for 15% of the oil palm plantation area, it contributed 30% of soil CO2 emission and 41% of soil CH4 uptake. The palm circle accounted for 18% of the oil palm plantation area and contributed 79% of soil N2O emissions. Our results indicated that the inherent management zones in oil palm plantations should be spatially represented for accurate quantification of soil greenhouse gas fluxes. Our findings showed that reduced management maintained yield whereas soil greenhouse gas fluxes remained high at least during the 3-4 years of this management experiment, which signified the legacy effect of more than a decade-long conventional management in this mature oil palm plantation.

Conventional management of oil palm plantations, involving high fertilization rate and herbicide application, result in high yield but with large soil greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study aimed to assess a practical alternative to conventional management, namely reduced fertilization with mechanical weeding, to decrease soil GHG emissions without sacrificing production. We established a full factorial experiment with two fertilization rates (conventional and reduced fertilization, equal to nutrients exported via fruit harvest) and two weeding methods (herbicide and mechanical), each with four replicate plots, since 2016 in a ≥ 15-year old, large-scale oil palm plantation in Indonesia. Soil CO₂, N₂O, and CH₄ fluxes were measured during 2019–2020 and yield was measured during 2017–2020. Fresh fruit yield (30 ± 1 Mg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹) and soil GHG fluxes did not differ among treatments (P ≥ 0.11), implying legacy effects of over a decade of conventional management prior to the start of experiment. Annual soil GHG fluxes were 5.5 ± 0.2 Mg CO₂-C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹, 3.6 ± 0.7 kg N₂O-N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹, and −1.5 ± 0.1 kg CH₄-C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ across treatments. The palm circle, where fertilizers are commonly applied, covered 18 % of the plantation area but accounted 79 % of soil N₂O emission. The net primary production of this oil palm plantation was 17150 ± 260 kg C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ but 62 % of this was removed by fruit harvest. The global warming potential of this planation was 3010 ± 750 kg CO₂-eq ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ of which 55 % was contributed by soil N₂O emission and only < 2 % offset by soil CH₄ sink.

Morus macroura ‘Panzhihua No. 1’ is a dual-purpose cultivar valued for its edible leaves and fruits. Derived from an ancient mulberry tree, it is a unique local germplasm resource. During asexual propagation, M. macroura exhibits sexual variation closely associated with fruit and leaf yield. To explore the molecular mechanisms of sexual dimorphism and its effects on nutritional traits, we integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses of male and female inflorescences and leaves. Key sex-biased genes were enriched in plant hormone signaling, flavonoid biosynthesis, and carbohydrate metabolism pathways. Female plants had elevated expression of ethylene-responsive transcription factor 1 (ERF1), EIN3-binding F-box proteins (EBF1/2), and Chalcone synthase (CHS) genes and higher levels of bioactive flavonoids, including isoquercitrin and kaempferol derivatives. In contrast, male plants had increased expression of gibberellin 20-oxidase (GA20ox) and DELLA genes and accumulated glycosides, which are beneficial for leaf development. These findings reveal how sex-linked metabolic networks shape mulberry tissue functional profiles, providing molecular targets for breeding.