Intraspecific plant-soil feedback in four tropical tree species is inconsistent in a field experiment.

ABSTRACT:

Premise

Soil microbes can influence patterns of diversity in plant communities via plant-soil feedbacks. Intraspecific plant-soil feedbacks occur when plant genotype leads to variations in soil microbial composition, resulting in differences in the performance of seedlings growing near their maternal plants versus seedlings growing near nonmaternal conspecific plants. How consistently such intraspecific plant-soil feedbacks occur in natural plant communities is unclear, especially in variable field conditions.

Methods

In an in situ experiment with four native tree species on Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panama, seedlings of each species were transplanted beneath their maternal tree or another conspecific tree in the BCI forest. Mortality and growth were assessed at the end o

SUBMITTER: Eck JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11659945 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature