Native Microbes Amplify Native Seedling Establishment and Diversity While Inhibiting a Non-Native Grass.

ABSTRACT: Although several studies have shown increased native plant establishment with native microbe soil amendments, few studies have investigated how microbes can alter seedling recruitment and establishment in the presence of a non-native competitor. In this study, the effect of microbial communities on seedling biomass and diversity was assessed by seeding pots with both native prairie seeds and a non-native grass that commonly invades US grassland restorations, Setaria faberi. Soil in the pots was inoculated with whole soil collections from ex-arable land, late successional arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi isolated from a nearby tallgrass prairie, with both prairie AM fungi and ex-arable whole soil, or with a sterile soil (control). We hypothesized (1) late successional plants would b

SUBMITTER: Koziol L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10005557 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature