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Feedback with soil biota contributes to plant rarity and invasiveness in communities

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  • John N. Klironomos

    (University of Guelph)

Abstract

Understanding the relative abundance of species in plant communities is an unsolved problem 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. Mechanisms such as competition, resource partitioning5, dispersal ability10 and predation tolerance6,7,8,9 do not adequately explain relative abundance under field conditions11,12. Recent work suggests that interactions between plants and soil microbes is important13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21. Here I show that such interaction explains a significant proportion of the variance in the relative abundance of species in plant communities. Rare plants exhibited a relative decrease in growth on ‘home’ soil in which pathogens had had a chance to accumulate, whereas invasive plants benefited from interactions with mycorrhizal fungi. Some plant species accumulate pathogens quickly and maintain low densities as a result of the accumulation of species-specific pathogens, whereas others accumulate species-specific pathogens more slowly and do not experience negative feedback until plant densities reach high levels13,15,21. These results indicate that plants have different abilities to influence their abundance by changing the structure of their soil communities, and that this is an important regulator of plant community structure.

Suggested Citation

  • John N. Klironomos, 2002. "Feedback with soil biota contributes to plant rarity and invasiveness in communities," Nature, Nature, vol. 417(6884), pages 67-70, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:417:y:2002:i:6884:d:10.1038_417067a
    DOI: 10.1038/417067a
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    Cited by:

    1. Nzube Thaddeus Egboka & Leonard Chimaobi Agim & Michael Akaninyene Okon & Nnaemeka Henry Okoli & Akaninyene Isaiah Afangide & Philomena Nkem Okonjo, 2022. "Population Density Of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi And Physico-Chemical Properties Of Soils As Affected By Cropping Systems," Journal Clean WAS (JCleanWAS), Zibeline International Publishing, vol. 6(1), pages 27-32, June.
    2. Laura Yesenia Solís-Ramos1 & Antonio Andrade-Torres2, 2020. "Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in Tropical Ecosystems Towards its Management?," Agricultural Research & Technology: Open Access Journal, Juniper Publishers Inc., vol. 24(4), pages 152-155, July.
    3. Erin M. Garrett & David J. Gibson, 2020. "Identifying Sustainable Grassland Management Approaches in Response to the Invasive Legume Lespedeza cuneata : A Functional Group Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-20, July.
    4. Mazzoleni, Stefano & Bonanomi, Giuliano & Giannino, Francesco & Incerti, Guido & Dekker, Stefan C. & Rietkerk, Max, 2010. "Modelling the effects of litter decomposition on tree diversity patterns," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 221(23), pages 2784-2792.
    5. Alena F. Lukács & Gábor M. Kovács, 2019. "Effect of aboveground plant conditioner treatment on arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization of tomato and pepper," Horticultural Science, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 46(4), pages 208-214.
    6. Aguilera, Anna G., 2011. "The influence of soil community density on plant-soil feedbacks: An important unknown in plant invasion," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 222(18), pages 3413-3420.
    7. Fukano, Yuya & Tachiki, Yuuya & Yahara, Tetsukazu & Iwasa, Yoh, 2013. "Soil disturbances can suppress the invasion of alien plants under plant–soil feedback," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 260(C), pages 42-49.

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