Plant growth ability, rather than phylogenetic relatedness, predicts the effect of soil biota from an abandoned field on native and exotic plants

Abstract

Aims Soil biota, as legacy effects of previous species in natural ecosystems, profoundly affect plant performance in new habitats and, in turn, plant community. However, how soil biota, as legacy effects of agricultural crops, affect the likelihood of establishment of exotic and native plants in newly abandoned farmland remains poorly understood, which may hinder effective management of agricultural weeds. Methods Here, we grew 58 plant species (28 exotic species and 30 native species) common in Central China in sterilized vs. non-sterilized soils collected from a newly abandoned maize field. We (1) estimated the effects of soil biota on plant shoot, root and total mass, (2) explored the dependence of soil effects on the plants’ phylogenetic distance to maize, origin (native vs. exotic) and life history (annual vs. perennial), and (3) tested which plant traits could predict soil effects. Important Findings Soil biota, in general, decreased plant mass, suggesting a dominant role of enemies. The effect of the soil biota on plant total mass was unrelated to the phylogenetic distance of the plants to maize and decreased linearly with increasing plant intrinsic growth ability. Moreover, the soil biota on average had greater negative impacts on the total mass of exotic plants, particularly perennial species, than on that of native plants. Our results suggest that plant intrinsic growth ability, rather than phylogenetic relatedness, could be a reliable predictor of soil effects. Additionally, native plants might benefit from plant–soil interactions when competing with exotic perennial plants when initially established in newly abandoned farmlands.

Leaf litter presence in the non‐growing season prolongs plant legacy effects on soil fungal communities and succeeding plant growth

“…Besides species origin (i.e. alien vs. native), plant rhizosphere biota and PSFs are also affected by abiotic and biotic environments, and plant functional traits, including litter traits (Meisner et al, 2014; Wei et al, 2023). Our results indicate that conditioning treatments and the identity of conditioning/test species play a dominant role in shaping soil fungi and plant–soil interactions.…”

“…In March 2019, we collected topsoil from a recently abandoned field in Wuhan (30.48° N, 114.35° E, Figure 1b), in which none of our study species previously occurred (details please see Wei et al, 2023). In a laboratory, we sieved (2 mm) and homogenized the soil.…”