Dataset Information

Spatial heterogeneity in root litter and soil legacies differentially affect legume root traits.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Plants affect the soil environment via litter inputs and changes in biotic communities, which feed back to subsequent plant growth. Here we investigated the individual contributions of litter and biotic communities to soil feedback effects, and plant ability to respond to spatial heterogeneity in soil legacy.

Methods

We tested for localised and systemic responses of Trifolium repens to soil biotic and root litter legacy of seven grassland species by exposing half of a root system to control soil and the other half to specific inoculum or root litter.

Results

Soil inoculation triggered a localised reduction in root length while litter locally increased root biomass independent of inoculum or litter species identity. Nodule formation was locally suppressed in response to soil conditioned by another legume (Vicia cracca) and showed a trend towards systemic reduction in response to conspecific soil. V. cracca litter also caused a systemic response with thinner roots produced in the part of the root system not directly exposed to the litter.

Conclusions

Spatial heterogeneity in root litter distribution and soil communities generate distinct local and systemic responses in root morphology and nodulation. These responses can influence plant-mutualist interactions and nutrient cycling, and should be included in plant co-existence models.

SUBMITTER: Saar S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6435190 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Spatial heterogeneity in root litter and soil legacies differentially affect legume root traits.

Saar Sirgi S Semchenko Marina M Barel Janna M JM De Deyn Gerlinde B GB De Deyn Gerlinde B GB

Plant and soil 20180511 1

<h4>Background and aims</h4>Plants affect the soil environment via litter inputs and changes in biotic communities, which feed back to subsequent plant growth. Here we investigated the individual contributions of litter and biotic communities to soil feedback effects, and plant ability to respond to spatial heterogeneity in soil legacy.<h4>Methods</h4>We tested for localised and systemic responses of <i>Trifolium repens</i> to soil biotic and root litter legacy of seven grassland species by expo ...[more]

PMID: 30996487

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Project description:Plant species vary greatly in their responsiveness to nutritional soil mutualists, such as mycorrhizal fungi and rhizobia, and this responsiveness is associated with a trade-off in allocation to root structures for resource uptake. As a result, the outcome of plant competition can change with the density of mutualists, with microbe-responsive plant species having high competitive ability when mutualists are abundant and non-responsive plants having high competitive ability with low densities of mutualists. When responsive plant species also allow mutualists to grow to greater densities, changes in mutualist density can generate a positive feedback, reinforcing an initial advantage to either plant type. We study a model of mutualist-mediated competition to understand outcomes of plant-plant interactions within a patchy environment. We find that a microbe-responsive plant can exclude a non-responsive plant from some initial conditions, but it must do so across the landscape including in the microbe-free areas where it is a poorer competitor. Otherwise, the non-responsive plant will persist in both mutualist-free and mutualist-rich regions. We apply our general findings to two different biological scenarios: invasion of a non-responsive plant into an established microbe-responsive native population, and successional replacement of non-responders by microbe-responsive species. We find that resistance to invasion is greatest when seed dispersal by the native plant is modest and dispersal by the invader is greater. Nonetheless, a native plant that relies on microbial mutualists for competitive dominance may be particularly vulnerable to invasion because any disturbance that temporarily reduces its density or that of the mutualist creates a window for a non-responsive invader to establish dominance. We further find that the positive feedbacks from associations with beneficial soil microbes create resistance to successional turnover. Our theoretical results constitute an important first step toward developing a general understanding of the interplay between mutualism and competition in patchy landscapes, and generate qualitative predictions that may be tested in future empirical studies.

Dataset Information

Spatial heterogeneity in root litter and soil legacies differentially affect legume root traits.

Background and aims

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Spatial heterogeneity in root litter and soil legacies differentially affect legume root traits.

Similar Datasets

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