DOI: 10.5061/dryad.p5hqbzkzh
title: Species-specific root-shoot ratios in a diverse grassland community

description: Existing studies of root/shoot ratios (R/S) in the field show large
 differences among environments, from high values in unproductive
 environments to low values in productive environments. However, virtually
 all such studies are community-wide, i.e. compare biomasses of roots and
 shoots summed over all coexisting species. Therefore we do not know to
 what extent this is due to innate interspecific differences in the R/S
 ratios or to plastic response to nutrient limitations. This is due to
 methodological difficulties in assigning roots into species, which
 preclude the contribution of species-specific differences to the
 community-wide R/S ratio. These limitations can be overcome by DNA
 analyses. We used qPCR to determine species-specific R/S ratios in a
 montane grassland and compared these values to R/S ratios from a
 two-season long single-species pot experiment. To translate the qPCR data
 to root biomass units, we extracted DNA from the experimental plants to
 perform calibration for each species and to take into account potential
 change during the ontogeny of root systems. We used these calibration
 relationships to recalculate gene copies estimated in a set of field
 samples to species-specific root biomass values. All species except one
 showed fairly high correlation between aboveground biomass (determined by
 weighing) and belowground biomass (determined by qPCR) across all studied
 plots in the field. Root/shoot ratios determined from the field were for
 most species slightly lower compared to the aggregate values of the whole
 community determined by weighing both roots and aboveground biomass. They
 showed significant correlation with the R/S ratios from the pot
 experiment, indicating innate differences among species that persist
 across two very different sets of conditions (multispecies community in
 the field, single species culture in pots). The field R/S ratios based on
 qPCR root estimation are informative on the true field patterns. This is
 supported by their correlation with the pot-derived values. While the
 values seem to be slightly underestimated, they are well in the reasonable
 range of values. This opens a new field of study, namely examination how
 R/Sratios in the field respond to changed nutrient availability and
 diversity and species composition of neighbouring species.
description: Quantitative real-time PCR with species-specific primers was used
 to quantify the root biomass of 11 plant species in temperate mountain
 grasslands under field conditions. Aboveground plant biomass was estimated
 by weight. A pot experiment was set up to allow the conversion of target
 gene copy numbers into plant biomass units in the focal species and to
 facilitate the determination of the root-shoot ratio of individual species
 under field conditions.
description: # Species-specific root-shoot ratios in a diverse grassland community
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.p5hqbzkzh](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.p5hqbzkzh) ## Description of the data and file structure Root biomass estimates for 11 grassland species using qPCR in field and pot experiments. ### Files and variables #### File: field\_Achillea\_root\_biomass\_2018.txt **Description:** root biomass of *Achillea millefolium *estimated by qPCR in at field site in 2018. Missing data are indicated by NA. ##### Variables * Samples: refers to the soil cube used for DNA extraction * Meann Cp: qPCR raw data indicating in which PCR cycle the fluorescence crossed the threshold level * Target gene mean conc. pg: estimate of target gene copy number (pg) * OLD_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the calibration coefficient from Herben et al (2018) (mg) * NEWMEAN_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the mean value estimated for the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_S_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the first harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H1_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the second harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H2_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the third harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H3_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fourth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H4_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fifth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) #### File: field\_Achillea\_root\_biomass\_2019.txt **Description:** root biomass of *Achillea millefolium *estimated by qPCR in at field site in 2019. Missing data are indicated by NA. ##### Variables * Samples: refers to the soil cube used for DNA extraction * Meann Cp: qPCR raw data indicating in which PCR cycle the flourescence crossed the treshold level * Target gene mean conc. pg: estimate of target gene copy number (pg) * OLD_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the calibration coefficient from Herben et al (2018) (mg) * NEWMEAN_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the mean value estimated for the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_S_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the first harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H1_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the second harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H2_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the third harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H3_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fourth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H4_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fifth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) #### File: field\_Agrostis\_root\_biomass\_2019.txt **Description:** root biomass of *Agrostis capillaris *estimated by qPCR in at field site in 2019. Missing data are indicated by NA. ##### Variables * Samples: refers to the soil cube used for DNA extraction * Meann Cp: qPCR raw data indicating in which PCR cycle the flourescence crossed the treshold level * Target gene mean conc. pg: estimate of target gene copy number (pg) * OLD_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the calibration coefficient from Herben et al (2018) (mg) * NEWMEAN_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the mean value estimated for the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_S_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the first harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H1_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the second harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H2_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the third harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H3_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fourth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H4_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fifth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) #### File: field\_Agrostis\_root\_biomass\_2018.txt \**Description: **root biomass of *Agrostis capillaris *estimated by qPCR in at field site in 2018. Missing data are indicated by NA. ##### Variables * Samples: refers to the soil cube used for DNA extraction * Meann Cp: qPCR raw data indicating in which PCR cycle the fluorescence crossed the threshold level * Target gene mean conc. pg: estimate of target gene copy number (pg) * OLD_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the calibration coefficient from Herben et al (2018) (mg) * NEWMEAN_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the mean value estimated for the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_S_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the first harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H1_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the second harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H2_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the third harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H3_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fourth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H4_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fifth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) #### File: field\_Anthoxanthum\_root\_biomass\_2018.txt **Description:** root biomass of *Anthoxanthum odoratum *estimated by qPCR in at field site in 2018. Missing data are indicated by NA. ##### Variables * Samples: refers to the soil cube used for DNA extraction * Meann Cp: qPCR raw data indicating in which PCR cycle the fluorescence crossed the threshold level * Target gene mean conc. pg: estimate of target gene copy number (pg) * OLD_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the calibration coefficient from Herben et al (2018) (mg) * NEWMEAN_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the mean value estimated for the pot experiment performed in this study * NEW_S_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the first harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H1_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the second harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H2_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the third harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H3_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fourth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study v * NEW_H4_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fifth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study v #### File: field\_Festuca\_root\_biomass\_2019.txt **Description:** root biomass of *Festuca rubra *estimated by qPCR in at field site in 2019. Missing data are indicated by NA. ##### Variables * Samples: refers to the soil cube used for DNA extraction * Meann Cp: qPCR raw data indicating in which PCR cycle the fluorescence crossed the threshold level * Target gene mean conc. pg: estimate of target gene copy number (pg) * OLD_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the calibration coefficient from Herben et al (2018) (mg) * NEWMEAN_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the mean value estimated for the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_S_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the first harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H1_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the second harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H2_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the third harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H3_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fourth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H4_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fifth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) #### File: field\_Anthoxanthum\_root\_biomass\_2019.txt **Description:** root biomass of *Anthoxanthum odoratum *estimated by qPCR in at field site in 2019. Missing data are indicated by NA. ##### Variables * Samples: refers to the soil cube used for DNA extraction * Meann Cp: qPCR raw data indicating in which PCR cycle the fluorescence crossed the threshold level * Target gene mean conc. pg: estimate of target gene copy number (pg) * OLD_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the calibration coefficient from Herben et al (2018) (mg) * NEWMEAN_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the mean value estimated for the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_S_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the first harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H1_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the second harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H2_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the third harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H3_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fourth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H4_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fifth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) #### File: field\_Festuca\_root\_biomass\_2018.txt **Description:** root biomass of *Festuca rubra *estimated by qPCR in at field site in 2018. Missing data are indicated by NA. ##### Variables * Samples: refers to the soil cube used for DNA extraction * Meann Cp: qPCR raw data indicating in which PCR cycle the florescence crossed the threshold level * Target gene mean conc. pg: estimate of target gene copy number (pg) * OLD_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the calibration coefficient from Herben et al (2018) (mg) * NEWMEAN_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the mean value estimated for the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_S_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the first harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H1_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the second harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H2_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the third harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H3_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fourth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H4_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fifth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) #### File: field\_Lathyrus\_root\_biomass\_2018.txt **Description:** root biomass of *Lathyrus pratensis *estimated by qPCR in at field site in 2018. Missing data are indicated by NA. ##### Variables * Samples: refers to the soil cube used for DNA extraction * Meann Cp: qPCR raw data indicating in which PCR cycle the fluorescence crossed the threshold level * Target gene mean conc. pg: estimate of target gene copy number (pg) * OLD_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the calibration coefficient from Herben et al (2018) (mg) * NEWMEAN_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the mean value estimated for the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_S_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the first harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H1_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the second harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H2_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the third harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H3_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fourth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H4_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fifth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) #### File: field\_Lathyrus\_root\_biomass\_2019.txt **Description:** root biomass of *Lathyrus pratensis *estimated by qPCR in at field site in 2019. Missing data are indicated by NA. ##### Variables * Samples: refers to the soil cube used for DNA extraction * Meann Cp: qPCR raw data indicating in which PCR cycle the fluorescence crossed the threshold level * Target gene mean conc. pg: estimate of target gene copy number (pg) * OLD_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the calibration coefficient from Herben et al (2018) (mg) * NEWMEAN_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the mean value estimated for the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_S_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the first harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H1_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the second harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H2_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the third harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H3_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fourth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H4_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fifth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) #### File: field\_Leontodon\_root\_biomass\_2019.txt **Description:** root biomass of *Leontodon hispidus *estimated by qPCR in at field site in 2019. Missing data are indicated by NA. ##### Variables * Samples: refers to the soil cube used for DNA extraction * Meann Cp: qPCR raw data indicating in which PCR cycle the fluorescence crossed the threshold level * Target gene mean conc. pg: estimate of target gene copy number (pg) * OLD_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the calibration coefficient from Herben et al (2018) (mg) * NEWMEAN_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the mean value estimated for the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_S_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the first harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H1_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the second harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H2_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the third harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H3_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fourth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H4_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fifth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) #### File: field\_Leontodon\_root\_biomass\_2018.txt **Description:** root biomass of *Leontodon hispidus *estimated by qPCR in at field site in 2018. Missing data are indicated by NA. ##### Variables * Samples: refers to the soil cube used for DNA extraction * Meann Cp: qPCR raw data indicating in which PCR cycle the fluorescence crossed the threshold level * Target gene mean conc. pg: estimate of target gene copy number (pg) * OLD_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the calibration coefficient from Herben et al (2018) (mg) * NEWMEAN_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the mean value estimated for the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_S_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the first harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H1_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the second harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H2_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the third harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H3_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fourth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H4_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fifth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) #### File: field\_Luzula\_root\_biomass\_2019.txt **Description:** root biomass of *Luzula multiflora *estimated by qPCR in at field site in 2019. Missing data are indicated by NA. ##### Variables * Samples: refers to the soil cube used for DNA extraction * Meann Cp: qPCR raw data indicating in which PCR cycle the fluorescence crossed the threshold level * Target gene mean conc. pg: estimate of target gene copy number (pg) * OLD_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the calibration coefficient from Herben et al (2018) (mg) * NEWMEAN_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the mean value estimated for the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_S_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the first harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H1_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the second harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H2_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the third harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H3_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fourth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H4_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fifth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) #### File: field\_Nardus\_root\_biomass\_2018.txt **Description:** root biomass of *Nardus stricta *estimated by qPCR in at field site in 2018. Missing data are indicated by NA. ##### Variables * Samples: refers to the soil cube used for DNA extraction * Meann Cp: qPCR raw data indicating in which PCR cycle the fluorescence crossed the threshold level * Target gene mean conc. pg: estimate of target gene copy number (pg) * Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the calibration coefficient from Herben et al (2018) (mg) #### File: field\_Luzula\_root\_biomass\_2018.txt **Description:** root biomass of *Luzula multiflora *estimated by qPCR in at field site in 2018. Missing data are indicated by NA. ##### Variables * Samples: refers to the soil cube used for DNA extraction * Meann Cp: qPCR raw data indicating in which PCR cycle the fluorescence crossed the threshold level * Target gene mean conc. pg: estimate of target gene copy number (mg) * OLD_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the calibration coefficient from Herben et al (2018) (mg) * NEWMEAN_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the mean value estimated for the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_S_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the first harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H1_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the second harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H2_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the third harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H3_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fourth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H4_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fifth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) #### File: field\_Nardus\_root\_biomass\_2019.txt **Description:** root biomass of *Nardus stricta *estimated by qPCR in at field site in 2019. Missing data are indicated by NA. ##### Variables * Samples: refers to the soil cube used for DNA extraction * Meann Cp: qPCR raw data indicating in which PCR cycle the fluorescence crossed the threshold level * Target gene mean conc. pg: estimate of target gene copy number (pg) * Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the calibration coefficient from Herben et al (2018) (mg) #### File: field\_Rannunculus\_root\_biomass\_2019.txt **Description:** root biomass of *Ranunculus acris *estimated by qPCR in at field site in 2019. Missing data are indicated by NA. ##### Variables * Samples: refers to the soil cube used for DNA extraction * Meann Cp: qPCR raw data indicating in which PCR cycle the fluorescence crossed the threshold level * Target gene mean conc. pg: estimate of target gene copy number (pg) * OLD_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the calibration coefficient from Herben et al (2018) (mg) * NEWMEAN_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the mean value estimated for the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_S_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the first harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H1_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the second harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H2_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the third harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H3_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fourth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H4_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fifth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) #### File: field\_Ranunculus\_root\_biomass\_2018.txt **Description:** root biomass of *Ranunculus acris *estimated by qPCR in at field site in 2018. Missing data are indicated by NA. ##### Variables * Samples: refers to the soil cube used for DNA extraction * Meann Cp: qPCR raw data indicating in which PCR cycle the fluorescence crossed the threshold level * Target gene mean conc. pg: estimate of target gene copy number (pg) * OLD_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the calibration coefficient from Herben et al (2018) (mg) * NEWMEAN_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the mean value estimated for the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_S_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the first harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H1_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the second harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H2_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the third harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H3_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fourth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H4_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fifth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) #### File: field\_Trifolium\_pratense\_root\_biomass\_2018.txt **Description:** root biomass of *Trifolium pratense *estimated by qPCR in at field site in 2018. Missing data are indicated by NA. ##### Variables * Samples: refers to the soil cube used for DNA extraction * Meann Cp: qPCR raw data indicating in which PCR cycle the fluorescence crossed the threshold level * Target gene mean conc. pg: estimate of target gene copy number (pg) * OLD_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the calibration coefficient from Herben et al (2018) (mg) * NEWMEAN_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the mean value estimated for the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_S_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the first harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H1_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the second harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H2_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the third harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H3_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fourth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H4_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fifth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) #### File: field\_Trifolium\_repens\_root\_biomass\_2018.txt **Description:** root biomass of *Trifolium repens *estimated by qPCR in at field site in 2018. Missing data are indicated by NA. ##### Variables * Samples: refers to the soil cube used for DNA extraction * Meann Cp: qPCR raw data indicating in which PCR cycle the fluorescence crossed the threshold level * Target gene mean conc. pg: estimate of target gene copy number (pg) * OLD_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the calibration coefficient from Herben et al (2018) (mg) * NEWMEAN_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the mean value estimated for the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_S_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the first harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H1_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the second harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H2_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the third harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H3_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fourth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H4_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fifth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) #### File: field\_Trifolium\_pratense\_root\_biomass\_2019.txt **Description:** root biomass of *Trifolium pratense *estimated by qPCR in at field site in 2019. Missing data are indicated by NA. ##### Variables * Samples: refers to the soil cube used for DNA extraction * Meann Cp: qPCR raw data indicating in which PCR cycle the fluorescence crossed the threshold level * Target gene mean conc. pg: estimate of target gene copy number (pg) * OLD_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the calibration coefficient from Herben et al (2018) (mg) * NEWMEAN_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the mean value estimated for the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_S_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the first harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H1_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the second harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H2_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the third harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H3_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fourth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H4_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fifth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) #### File: field\_Trifolium\_repens\_root\_biomass\_2019.txt **Description:** root biomass of *Trifolium repens *estimated by qPCR in at field site in 2019. Missing data are indicated by NA. ##### Variables * Samples: refers to the soil cube used for DNA extraction * Meann Cp: qPCR raw data indicating in which PCR cycle the fluorescence crossed the threshold level * Target gene mean conc. pg: estimate of target gene copy number (pg) * OLD_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the calibration coefficient from Herben et al (2018) (mg) * NEWMEAN_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the mean value estimated for the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_S_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the first harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H1_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the second harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H2_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the third harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H3_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fourth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) * NEW_H4_Target species root biomass (mg): target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit using the value estimated for the fifth harvest of the pot experiment performed in this study (mg) #### File: pot\_experiment\_data.csv **Description:** Calibration experiment - copy numbers of target genes per root biomass unit estimated for each species. Missing data are indicated by NA. ##### Variables * Samples: sample names used for the individual plants in the pot experiment. Each name is a unique identifier. * Species: species code agro - Agrostis capillaris achi - Achillea millefolium anth - Anthoxanthum odoratum fest - Festuca rubra lath - Lathyrus pratensis leon - Leonthodon hispidus luzu - Luzula multiflora ranu - Rannunculus acris tpra - Trifolium pratense trep - Trifolium repens * Harvest: indicates the length of the cultivation of the particular sample. After this period the samples were harvested and the biomass was analyzed 1 - seedlings,beginning of cultivation 2- after 6 weeks of cultivation 3 - after 5 months of cultivation 4 - after 10 months of cultivation 5 - after 15 months of cultivation * DNA_extract: concentration of the extracted DNA (ng/ul) * target_gene_1ng_DNA: copy number of the traget gene in 1ng of DNA extract (pg) * target_gene_1mg_root: target gene copy number re-calculated to root biomass unit (pg) * shoot_fresh: fresh weight of the shoot biomass (g) * shoot_dry: dry weight of the root biomass (g) * root_biomass_total: root biomass weight (g) ## Code/software Text editor or spreadsheet editor. Any.