Abstract
Antagonistic interactions between plants and soil biota promote species diversity in many plant communities but little is known about how these plant–soil interactions influence herbaceous species in temperate forests. To assess the potential for soil biota to affect the growth of forest herbs, I conducted a greenhouse experiment in which seedlings of nine focal herb species common in Wisconsin (USA) forests were grown in soil derived from conspecific and heterospecific plants. This soil origin treatment was crossed with a subsequent treatment in which half of the soils were pasteurized to eliminate soil biota. The presence and origin of soil biota had variable effects on plant growth among the nine focal species. Thalictrum dioicum, Elymus hystrix, and Solidago flexicaulis growth were inhibited by the presence of soil biota in unpasteurized soils. Thalictrum dioicum seedlings grown in conspecific, unpasteurized soil accumulated 30% less biomass than seedlings grown in heterospecific, unpasteurized soil indicating that host-specific effects of microbial pathogens restrict seedling growth. Similarly, E. hystrix seedlings were 11% smaller in conspecific-trained soils. The remaining herb species showed no significant response to experimental treatments manipulating soil biota. These variable growth responses highlight the potential for differences in plant–soil interactions among plant species to influence local plant distributions and community dynamics. Janzen–Connell effects, like those observed in T. dioicum and E. hystrix, could promote coexistence among certain species and contribute to high local plant diversity in temperate forest understories.
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Acknowledgements
The author thanks D. Waller, T. Givnish, R. Lankau, A. Ives, M. Turner, and B. Larget for providing advice and encouragement. Four anonymous reviews offered constructive feedback that improved the manuscript. C. Kestel and B. Bowser assisted with experiment preparation and data collection. C. Streeker, I. Jordan-Thalen, and UW-Botany greenhouse staff offered logistical support for the experiment. This research was funded by a 2018 Graduate Student Research Award from the Botanical Society of America and a Davis Research Grant from the UW–Madison Department of Botany. J. Beck was also supported as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow (DGE-1747503). Opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed here are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of the NSF. Support was also provided by the Graduate School and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education at the University of Wisconsin–Madison with funding from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.
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This research was funded by a 2018 Graduate Student Research Award from the Botanical Society of America and a Davis Research Grant from the UW–Madison Department of Botany. J. Beck was also supported as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow (DGE-1747503).
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Beck, J.J. Variation in plant–soil interactions among temperate forest herbs. Plant Ecol 222, 1225–1238 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-021-01173-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-021-01173-x