Incorporating marine macrophytes in plant–soil feedbacks: Emerging evidence and opportunities to advance the field

Abstract

Plants can change the biotic and abiotic characteristics of soil, which can in turn affect the growth of plants. For example, changes in below‐ground microbial composition by one plant can affect the relative performance of a second plant, in turn affecting the outcome of plant–plant interactions, invasive species success, species abundance distributions, successional processes and plant community composition and diversity. The effects of plant–soil feedbacks on population, community and ecosystem processes in coastal and marine soft‐sediment systems have received relatively little attention, yet several recent examples offer compelling evidence for their importance. Marine soft‐sediment systems offer an ideal opportunity to test key theoretical predictions for when plant–soil feedbacks may contribute to species coexistence and influence community composition, including the role of phylogenetic distance and relatedness, the potential for intraspecific feedbacks, the importance of environmental context, the influence of climate change and the implications for ecosystem function. Synthesis. There is a documented disconnect between marine and terrestrial research that slows the advancement of generalisable theory. We suggest that bridging this gap in our understanding of plant–soil feedbacks may provide a unifying framework underlying plant community structure in both terrestrial and marine ecosystems.

The contribution of pathogenic soil microbes to ring formation in an iconic Australian arid grass,

“…Our findings, and the findings of Carlton et al (2018) suggest that soil microbes may also have a role in shaping community dynamics and vegetation structure in arid ecosystems. This contributes to a growing body of evidence suggesting that plant-soil feedbacks are important in a wide range of ecosystems worldwide (Piercey et al 2021). Soil microbes are often cited as beneficial for plant performance and essential to plant survival on land (e.g.…”

A deep dive into the ecology of Gamay (Botany Bay, Australia): current knowledge and future priorities for this highly modified coastal waterway

“…Within estuaries seagrass habitats represent some of the most ecologically important habitats, providing nursery habitat for fish and invertebrate species in Gamay (Bell and Pollard 1989;Reid 2021), many of which have commercial and recreational importance (Bell and Pollard 1989;Larkum and West 1990;Smith and Suthers 2000;Smith and Sinerchia 2004;Reid 2021). In comparison to other plant taxa, research investigating the role of symbiotic microorganisms (bacteria, fungi and archaea) in seagrass ecology is in its infancy (Nguyen et al 2021); however, early evidence suggests that these microbial communities have close relationships with seagrasses, assisting in the acquisition of resources and helping buffer against environmental stress (Brodersen et al 2014;Gribben et al 2017;Tarquinio et al 2019;Martin et al 2020;Piercey et al 2021). Additional gaps in Australia's seagrass research, many of which are directly relevant to seagrasses in Gamay, are summarised in York et al (2017).…”