DOI: 10.5061/dryad.2jm63xt0j
title: Data from: Diverse ecological strategies increase invasion resistance in an experimental grassland restoration

description: Understanding how the characteristics of native plant communities
 influence invasion is a pressing question, with implications for both
 theory and management. For decades, the primary native community
 characteristic used in tests of biotic resistance was species richness.
 However, previous studies have demonstrated that evolutionary history and
 functional traits both shape the invasion process, as ecological theory
 predicts. Theoretically, restoration and land management projects would
 benefit from designing seed mixtures around maximizing resistance to
 invasion. However, there is little empirical evidence on the importance of
 evolutionary diversity for management and still less guidance available to
 practitioners on how to apply these ecological theories effectively. We
 sought to empirically test how several native community characteristics
 (phylogenetic diversity, functional diversity, phylogenetic relatedness,
 and mean trait values) affected the survival of three introduced invasive
 species. We explored this question in experimentally restored 15 species
 prairie plots with three levels of phylogenetic diversity and two levels
 of functional diversity. Our experiment also had monocultures planted of
 all native species occurring in the plots that were also experimentally
 invaded. We found evidence that phylogenetic diversity conferred biotic
 resistance against one invasive species. We also found evidence that tall
 species better suppressed invaders. Surprisingly, we found patterns in
 leaf and seed traits linked to invasion resistance which were associated
 with both conservative and resource-acquisitive strategies. We also found
 evidence in both the diversity and monoculture plots that invaders were
 more successful with more closely related native species. Taken together,
 our results indicate that invasion resistance emerges from nuanced
 interactions between phylogenetic diversity, functional traits, and
 community composition, rather than from any single community
 characteristic. Taken together, our results underscore the complexity of
 biotic resistance and suggest that practitioners should prioritize
 phylogenetic diversity and strategic species selection when designing
 restoration plantings to enhance invasion resistance.
description: # Data from: Diverse ecological strategies increase invasion resistance in
 an experimental grassland restoration
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.2jm63xt0j](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.2jm63xt0j) ## Description of the data and file structure We planted an experimental prairie restoration with 72 diversity plots, established from plugs. For each of the 127 species included in the diversity experiments, we also established two monoculture plots. We experimentally invaded these plots with three species: Rumex crispus, Oenothera biennis, and Daucus carota. We tracked the survival and growth of these species over two years. We also collected trait data from the experiment to fill in gaps for species which were missing trait values in existing databases, including all three of the invaders.  For all flowering data, a 0 indicates the plant was not flowering, a 1 indicates the plant was flowering. For survival data, a 0 indicates mortality, a 1 indicates the plant survived. For all data, NA indicates a missing value. **Trait data acronyms and units**: * SLA - Specific Leaf Area (cm2/g) * LNC - Leaf Nitrogen Content (% weight N) * LCC - Leaf Carbon Content (% weight C) * Height (cm) * Seed mass (mg) **Phylogenetic diversity metric acronyms**: * MPD - Mean Pairwise Distance * MNTD - Mean Nearest Taxon Distance * Faith's PD - Faith's Phylogenetic Diversity ### Files and variables #### File: Daucus_wt.csv **Description:** Daucus carota weights from 2020 ##### Variables * Tag.Number: tag number of plant, unique identifier * Plot: plot number associated with each plant * Growth.Form: growth form of plant (either basal or seeds) * Weight: weight in grams of each plant #### File: mono_inv_phy_dist.csv **Description:** Phylogenetic distance between each planted species and each of the invaders ##### Variables * Plot: Plot number * Plot_Type: Plot type (monoculture or diversity) * Spp_code: Six letter code used for each species (first three letters of genus, first three letters of species) * Species: Scientific name of each plant species * dau_pdist: Phylogenetic distance between planted species and *Daucus carota* * oen_pdist: Phylogenetic distance between planted species and *Oenothera biennis* * rum_pdist: Phylogenetic distance between planted species and *Rumex crispus* #### File: rum_mono_aster.csv **Description:** *Rumex crispus* variables needed for Aster models - includes response variables for *Rumex* and predictor variables from monoculture plots ##### Variables * surv19: survival of plant in 2019 * surv20: survival of plant in 2020 * fl20: was the plant flowering in 2020? * bio_seeds: biomass in grams of plants that produced seeds in 2020 * rum_sla_d.r: Difference in SLA between planted species and invader * rum_sm_d.r: Difference in seed mass between planted species and invader * rum_lnc_d.r: Difference in LNC between planted species and invader * rum_lcc_d.r: Difference in LCC between planted species and invader * rum_ht_d.r: Difference in height between planted species and invader * rum_pdist: Phylogenetic distance between planted species and invader #### File: dau_mono_aster.csv **Description:** *Daucus carota* variables needed for Aster models - includes response variables for *Daucus* and predictor variables from monoculture plots ##### Variables * Plot: Plot where plant was found * Tag.Number: Unique identifier for plant * surv19: survival of plant in 2019 * surv20: survival of plant in 2020 * fl20: was the plant flowering in 2020 * bio_seeds: biomass in grams of plants that produced seeds in 2020 * bio_basal: biomass in grams of plants that did not flower in 2020 * block: Block was plant was found * dau_sla_d.r: Difference in SLA between planted species and invader * dau_sm_d.r: Difference in seed mass between planted species and invader * dau_lnc_d.r: Difference in LNC between planted species and invader * dau_lcc_d.r: Difference in LCC between planted species and invader * dau_ht_d.r: Difference in height between planted species and invader * dau_pdist: Phylogenetic distance between planted species and invader #### File: oen_div_aster.csv **Description:** *Oenothera biennis* variables needed for Aster models - includes response variables for *Oenothera* and predictor variables from diversity plots ##### Variables * surv19: survival of plant in 2019 * fl19: was the plant flowering in 2019 * cap19: number of capsules produced in 2019 * surv20: survival of plant in 2020 * fl20: was the plant flowering in 2020 * bio_seeds: biomass in grams of plant in grams for those that flowered * designed_PD: Faith's PD of planted community * designed_raw_FDis: Functional dispersion of plant community * oen_sla_d.r: Difference in SLA between planted community and invader * oen_sm_d.r: Difference in seed mass between planted community and invader * oen_lnc_d.r: Difference in LNC between planted community and invader * oen_lcc_d.r: Difference in LCC between planted community and invader * oen_ht_d.r: Difference in height between planted community and invader * oen_mpd: MPD between invader and native community * oen_mntd: MNTD between invader and native community #### File: oen_mono_aster.csv **Description:** *Oenothera biennis* variables needed for Aster models - includes response variables for *Oenothera* and predictor variables from monoculture plots ##### Variables * surv19: survival of plant in 2019 * fl19: was the plant flowering in 2019 * cap19: number of capsules produced in 2019 * surv20: survival of plant in 2020 * fl20: was the plant flowering in 2020 * bio_seeds: biomass in grams of flowering plants in 2020 (in grams) * oen_sla_d.r: Difference in SLA between planted species and invader * oen_sm_d.r: Difference in seed mass between planted species and invader * oen_lnc_d.r: Difference in LNC between planted species and invader * oen_lcc_d.r: Difference in LCC between planted species and invader * oen_ht_d.r: Difference in height between planted species and invader * oen_pdist: Phylogenetic distance between planted species and invader #### File: designed_diversity.csv **Description:** Diversity levels of each planted community ##### Variables * Plot: Plot number * type: Was the plot planted by plug or seed? * sp: Unique code for each plot * block: blocks based on A horizon * phyD: designed phylogenetic diversity level - H for high, M for medium, L for low * trtD: designed functional diversity level - H for high or L for low * designed_PD: Faith's PD of planted community * designed_raw_FDis: Functional dispersion of planted community #### File: Rumex_wt.csv **Description:** *Rumex crispus* weights from 2020 ##### Variables * Tag.Number: Unique identifier for each plant * Plot: Plot number * Growth.Form: Growth form - basal or seeds * Weight: Mass of plant in grams #### File: div_inv_phy_dist.csv **Description:** Phylogenetic distance (MPD or MNTD) between planted community and invader ##### Variables * Plot: Plot Number * type: was the plot established from plug or seed? * Code: Diversity levels - first letter corresponds to phylogenetic diversity level, second to functional diversity level (H - high, M - medium, L - low) * dau_mpd: MPD between *Daucus carota* and native community * oen_mpd: MPD between *Oenothera biennis* and native community * rum_mpd: MPD between *Rumex crispus* and native community * dau_mntd: MNTD between *Daucus carota* and native community * oen_mntd: MNTD between *Oenothera biennis* and native community * rum_mntd: MNTD between *Rumex crispus* and native community #### File: div_hier_trait_dist.csv **Description:** Difference in traits between planted community and each invader ##### Variables * Plot: Plot number * type: was the plot established from plug or seed? * Code: Diversity levels - first letter corresponds to phylogenetic diversity level, second to functional diversity level (H - high, M - medium, L - low) * dau_sla_d.r: Difference in SLA between planted community and *Daucus carota* * oen_sla_d.r: Difference in SLA between planted community and *Oenothera biennis* * rum_sla_d.r: Difference in SLA between planted community and *Rumex crispus* * dau_sm_d.r: Difference in seed mass between planted community and *Daucus carota* * oen_sm_d.r: Difference in seed mass between planted community and *Oenothera biennis* * rum_sm_d.r: Difference in seed mass between planted community and *Rumex crispus* * dau_lnc_d.r: Difference in LNC between planted community and *Daucus carota* * oen_lnc_d.r: Difference in LNC between planted community and *Oenothera biennis* * rum_lnc_d.r: Difference in LNC between planted community and *Rumex crispus* * dau_lcc_d.r: Difference in LCC between planted community and *Daucus carota* * oen_lcc_d.r: Difference in LCC between planted community and *Oenothera biennis* * rum_lcc_d.r: Difference in LCC between planted community and *Rumex crispus* * dau_ht_d.r: Difference in height between planted community and *Daucus carota* * oen_ht_d.r: Difference in height between planted community and *Oenothera biennis* * rum_ht_d.r: Difference in height between planted community and *Rumex crispus* #### File: mono_hier_trait_dist.csv **Description:**  Difference in traits between planted species and each invader ##### Variables * Plot: Plot number * Plot_Type: Monoculture or diversity plot * Spp_code: Six letter code used for each species (first three letters of genus, first three letters of species) * Species: Scientific name of planted species * dau_sla_d.r: Difference in SLA between planted species and *Daucus carota* * oen_sla_d.r: Difference in SLA between planted species and *Oenothera biennis* * rum_sla_d.r: Difference in SLA between planted species and *Rumex carota* * dau_sm_d.r: Difference in seed mass between planted species and *Daucus carota* * oen_sm_d.r: Difference in seed mass between planted species and *Oenothera biennis* * rum_sm_d.r: Difference in seed mass between planted species and *Rumex carota* * dau_lnc_d.r: Difference in LNC between planted species and *Daucus carota* * oen_lnc_d.r: Difference in LNC between planted species and *Oenothera biennis* * rum_lnc_d.r: Difference in LNC between planted species and *Rumex carota* * dau_lcc_d.r: Difference in LCC between planted species and *Daucus carota* * oen_lcc_d.r: Difference in LCC between planted species and *Oenothera biennis* * rum_lcc_d.r: Difference in LCC between planted species and *Rumex carota* * dau_ht_d.r: Difference in height between planted species and *Daucus carota* * oen_ht_d.r: Difference in height between planted species and *Oenothera biennis* * rum_ht_d.r: Difference in height between planted species and *Rumex carota* #### File: Oenothera_caps.csv **Description:** Oenothera capsules produced by each plant in 2019 ##### Variables * Tag.Number: Unique identifier for each plant * Plot: Plot number * Capsules: Number of capsules #### File: invader_surv_19.csv **Description:** Invader survival in 2019 ##### Variables * Plot: Plot Number * TagNumber: Unique identifier for each plant * Species: Invader species * Survivorship: Survival of species #### File: Oenothera_wt.csv **Description:** Weight of Oenothera collected in 2020 ##### Variables * Tag.Number: Identifier * Measurement: Mass in grams ## Code/software ``` R version 4.4.0 (2024-04-24 ucrt) ```