Using plant‐soil feedbacks to predict plant biomass in diverse communities

Kulmatiski, Andrew; Beard, Karen H.; Grenzer, Josephine; Forero, Leslie E.; Heavilin, Justin

doi:10.1890/15-2037.1

Cited by 23 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…In communities, it is possible that other interactions, such as resource competition or differences in relative growth rate, moderate the strength of microbially mediated plant‐soil feedbacks (Kulmatiski et al . ). It is also possible that in high diversity communities strong plant‐soil feedback effects are diluted by heterospecific neighbours (Maron et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Effects of between‐site variation in soil microbial communities and plant‐soil feedbacks on the productivity and composition of plant communities

Bauer

Blumenthal

Miller

et al. 2017

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Summary A critical challenge in the science and practice of restoration ecology is to understand the drivers of variation in restoration outcomes. Soil microbial communities may have a role in explaining this variation due to both site‐to‐site variation in the composition of soil microbial communities and due to variation that can arise due to plant‐soil feedbacks. We tested the relative importance of between‐site variation in soil microbial community composition and plant‐soil feedbacks in shaping plant community composition and ecosystem function. We used a standard two‐phase plant‐soil feedback design. Soil inoculum was collected from four tallgrass prairie sites. Then, soils were conditioned separately with nine plant species, and conditioned soils were used to inoculate prairie community mesocosms. In a separate experiment using soil from an additional site we tested conditioned soil samples for the abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and rhizobia. Site of soil origin and plant‐soil feedbacks both had effects on the composition and productivity of our plant communities, and the magnitudes of these effects were similar. We also found changes in the abundance of AMF and rhizobia due to plant‐soil feedbacks and that AMF abundance were associated with differences in plant community composition. These results indicate that the composition of soil communities due to site‐to‐site variation and plant‐soil feedbacks are both important determinants of plant community composition and productivity. Our results also suggest that AMF and rhizobia are key microbial functional groups underlying plant‐soil feedback effects. Synthesis and applications. Site‐to‐site variation in soil communities can explain some variation in restoration of plant communities. Since plant‐soil feedback effects of restored plant species do not overcome this variation, knowledge of soil microbial communities present at a site prior to initiation of restoration efforts may improve predictability of restoration outcomes, and reintroduction of some components of the soil community may be necessary to achieve restoration goals. Additionally, by understanding variation due to plant‐soil feedbacks, restoration practitioners can choose plant species for reintroduction that will create favourable soil conditions, including promoting microbial mutualists. Plant‐soil feedbacks should also make it possible to increase heterogeneity in soil microbial communities, leading to increases in beta diversity in plant communities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Effects of between‐site variation in soil microbial communities and plant‐soil feedbacks on the productivity and composition of plant communities

Bauer

Blumenthal

Miller

et al. 2017

Journal of Applied Ecology

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“…, Chisholm and Muller‐Landau , Kulmatiski , Kulmatiski et al. ). There is no inherent reason that a plant that has intrinsically slow growth rates (e.g., because of large root growth or defenses) would be expected to have negative PSF.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…, Kulmatiski et al. ). Instead, some of the best support for the role of PSFs comes from correlations between PSF and plant abundance on the landscape, though these tests also remain uncommon (Klironomos , Mangan et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Live long and prosper: plant–soil feedback, lifespan, and landscape abundance covary

Kulmatiski

Beard

Norton

et al. 2017

Ecology

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Plant soil feedbacks (PSFs) are thought to be important to plant growth and species coexistence, but most support for these hypotheses is derived from short-term greenhouse experiments. Here we use a seven-year, common garden experiment to measure PSFs for seven native and six nonnative species common to the western United States. We use these long-term, field-based estimates to test correlations between PSF and plant landscape abundance, species origin, functional type, and lifespan. To assess potential PSF mechanisms, we also measured soil microbial community composition, root biomass, nitrogen cycling, bulk density, penetration resistance, and shear strength. Plant abundance on the landscape and plant lifespan were positively correlated with PSFs, though this effect was due to the relationships for native plants. PSFs were correlated with indices of soil microbial community composition. Soil nutrient and physical traits and root biomass differed among species but were not correlated with PSF. While results must be taken with caution because only 13 species were examined, these species represent most of the dominant plant species in the system. Results suggest that native plant abundance is associated with the ability of long-lived plants to create positive plant-soil microbe interactions, while short-lived nonnative plants maintain dominance by avoiding soil-borne antagonists, increasing nitrogen cycling and dedicating resources to aboveground growth and reproduction rather than to belowground growth. Broadly, results suggest that PSFs are correlated with a suite of traits that determine plant abundance.

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“…This also likely applies to the synthetic communities of The Jena Experiment within 6 years since their establishment: had we used older synthetic communities or natural communities, any effect of vegetative growth on abundance might have been smaller. Furthermore, differences in vegetative growth were much larger among species than differences in competitive ability and NFD, being thus the most important predictor of abundance differences (Kulmatiski et al., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Compared to species-poor vegetation, more diverse communities show smaller relative abundance of conspecific compared to heterospecific individuals, resulting in a diluted effect of speciesspecific pathogens (Dudenhöffer, Ebeling, Klein, & Wagg, 2018;Maron et al, 2011;Schnitzer et al, 2011) or in a larger availability of limiting resources. It is therefore assumed that species that experience stronger negative frequency dependence (driving them to smaller equilibrium frequency) will also benefit more from growing in mixtures, that is, will overyield to a larger extent in mixtures (Kulmatiski, Beard, Grenzer, Forero, & Heavilin, 2016;Kulmatiski, Beard, & Heavilin, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking species abundance and overyielding from experimental communities with niche and fitness characteristics

2018

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So far, the principal force shaping local plant abundance patterns remains unclear. Rarity can result not only from poor competitive ability or from small vegetative or generative reproduction, but also from strong self‐limitation. The same mechanisms can drive species‐specific overyielding, that is, increased species productivity at high community diversity. Rare species can then benefit more (i.e., overyield to a larger extent) from growing in species‐rich communities because of altered competitive hierarchies or smaller conspecific frequencies. Here, we test which mechanism is the most important determinant of species rarity and of species‐specific productivity across a diversity gradient ranging from 1‐ to 60‐species plots. For that, we measured vegetative growth, competitive ability (competitive effect), and negative frequency dependence for 49 perennial grassland species from Central Europe. We then linked these characteristics with species abundance (measured as species biomass from 60‐species plots) and with species‐specific overyielding in The Jena Experiment. Species with higher rates of vegetative growth (when grown without neighbours) were also more abundant in the Jena Experiment. Larger species‐specific overyielding was then associated with a stronger negative frequency dependence. As species with greater vegetative growth were also more self‐limited, larger overyielding in species‐rich communities was characteristic for common rather than for rare species, refuting our initial hypothesis. Finally, path analysis indicated that species with poor capacity to suppress neighbours also profited more from growing in diverse communities. Synthesis. Our results identify key mechanisms driving abundance and productivity of species in synthetic communities differing in species richness. While vegetative reproduction was closely associated with abundance, intraspecific interactions (strength of negative frequency dependence) shaped species productivity across a richness gradient. Our study sheds light on the abundance patterns of species and their influence on community functions, such as biomass production, of species‐rich and ‐poor vegetation.

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Using plant‐soil feedbacks to predict plant biomass in diverse communities

Cited by 23 publications

References 45 publications

Effects of between‐site variation in soil microbial communities and plant‐soil feedbacks on the productivity and composition of plant communities

Effects of between‐site variation in soil microbial communities and plant‐soil feedbacks on the productivity and composition of plant communities

Live long and prosper: plant–soil feedback, lifespan, and landscape abundance covary

Linking species abundance and overyielding from experimental communities with niche and fitness characteristics

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