Trade-off Between Root Length and Seed Protein Yield in Oat (Avena sativa) Suggests a Potential Tragedy of the Commons Scenario

The amount of protein plays an important role in contributing to the nutritional value in crops, which is why crop varieties with higher protein yield are seen as desirable livestock feed. We carried out a field experiment to study the behaviour of 18 crossings of oat (Avena sativa) varieties where we quanitifed seed properties as well as root morphology. The crossings were non-homogenous F4 populations and were obtained through conventional plant breeding. Conducting a field experiment gives us realistic results that are applicable in real-life field conditions where factors such as weather variability, pathogens, pests and weeds all affect the growth and yield of the plants. The results of this experiment show that there is a clear trade-off between root length and seed protein yield, however no such correlation was found between root mass and protein yield. The results suggests a potential tragedy of the commons in which more competitive varieties produce cheaper low-quality roots that spread out more, resulting in overlapping of the roots with neighbours. From a farmer’s perspective this presumed tragedy of the commons scenario is unfavourable since the highly competitive varieties perform worse in seed production and in seed quality.