DOI: 10.5061/dryad.r43d0
title: Data from: Effects of between-site variation in soil microbial communities and plant-soil feedbacks on the productivity and composition of plant communities

description: A critical challenge in the science and practice of restoration ecology is
 to understand the drivers of variation in restoration outcomes. Soil
 microbial communities may have a role in explaining this variation due to
 both site-to-site variation in the composition of soil microbial
 communities and due to variation that can arise due to plant-soil
 feedbacks. We tested the relative importance of between-site variation in
 soil microbial community composition and plant-soil feedbacks in shaping
 plant community composition and ecosystem function. We used a standard
 two-phase plant-soil feedback design. Soil inoculum was collected from
 four tallgrass prairie sites. Then, soils were conditioned separately with
 nine plant species, and conditioned soils were used to inoculate prairie
 community mesocosms. In a separate experiment using soil from an
 additional site we tested conditioned soil samples for the abundance of
 arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and rhizobia. Site of soil origin and
 plant-soil feedbacks both had effects on the composition and productivity
 of our plant communities, and the magnitudes of these effects were
 similar. We also found changes in the abundance of AMF and rhizobia due to
 plant-soil feedbacks and that AMF abundance were associated with
 differences in plant community composition. These results indicate that
 the composition of soil communities due to site-to-site variation and
 plant-soil feedbacks are both important determinants of plant community
 composition and productivity. Our results also suggest that AMF and
 rhizobia are key microbial functional groups underlying plant-soil
 feedback effects. Synthesis and applications. Site-to-site variation in
 soil communities can explain some variation in restoration of plant
 communities. Since plant-soil feedback effects of restored plant species
 do not overcome this variation, knowledge of soil microbial communities
 present at a site prior to initiation of restoration efforts may improve
 predictability of restoration outcomes, and reintroduction of some
 components of the soil community may be necessary to achieve restoration
 goals. Additionally, by understanding variation due to plant-soil
 feedbacks, restoration practitioners can choose plant species for
 reintroduction that will create favourable soil conditions, including
 promoting microbial mutualists. Plant-soil feedbacks should also make it
 possible to increase heterogeneity in soil microbial communities, leading
 to increases in beta diversity in plant communities.
description: Experiment 1 Species
 DataExperiment 1 - Site vs.
 Plant-soil Feedback Experiment. Above-ground biomass (g) of nine plant
 species grown in soils originating from four sites and conditioned by one
 of nine plant species.Experiment 2 Species
 DataExperiment 2 - AMF &
 Rhizobia Experiment. Above-ground biomass (g) of ten plant species grown
 in soils originating from one site and conditioned by one of ten plant
 species.AMFExperiment 2 - AMF
 hyphae, vesicle and arbuscule abundance in soils conditioned by one of ten
 plant species.NodulationExperiment 2 - Nodule formation on Baptisia and Melilotus seedlings in soils conditioned by one of ten plant species.