Priority effects alter interaction outcomes in a legume-rhizobium mutualism.

ABSTRACT: Priority effects occur when the order of species arrival affects the final community structure. Mutualists often interact with multiple partners in different orders, but if or how priority effects alter interaction outcomes is an open question. In the field, we paired the legume Medicago lupulina with two nodulating strains of Ensifer bacteria that vary in nitrogen-fixing ability. We inoculated plants with strains in different orders and measured interaction outcomes. The first strain to arrive primarily determined plant performance and final relative abundances of rhizobia on roots. Plants that received effective microbes first and ineffective microbes second grew larger than plants inoculated with the same microbes in the opposite order. Our results show that mutualism outc

SUBMITTER: Boyle JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7944086 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature