DOI: 10.5061/dryad.4tc6292
title: Data from: Biotic and abiotic plant-soil feedback depends on nitrogen-acquisition strategy and shifts during long-term ecosystem development

description: 1. Feedback between plants and soil is an important driver of plant
 community structure, but it remains unclear whether plant-soil feedback
 (PSF): (i) reflects changes in biotic or abiotic properties, (ii) depends
 on environmental context in terms of soil nutrient availability, and (iii)
 varies among plant functional groups. Because soil nutrient availability
 strongly affects plant distribution and performance, soil chemical
 properties and plant nutrient-acquisition strategies might serve as
 important drivers of PSF. 2. We used soils from young and old stages of a
 long-term soil chronosequence to represent sites where productivity is
 limited by nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) availability, respectively. We
 grew three N-fixing and three non-N-fixing plant species in soils
 conditioned by co-occurring conspecific or heterospecific species from
 each of these two stages. In addition, three soil treatments were used to
 distinguish biotic and abiotic effects on plant performance, allowing
 measurements of overall, biotic and abiotic PSF. 3. In young, N-poor
 soils, non-N-fixing plants grew better in soils from N-fixing plants than
 in their own soils (i.e. negative PSF). However, this difference was not
 only associated with improved abiotic conditions in soils from N-fixing
 plants, but also with changes in soil biota. 4. By contrast, no
 significant PSF was observed for N-fixing plants grown in young soils.
 Moreover, we did not observe any significant PSF for either N-fixing or
 non-N fixing plants growing in old, P-impoverished soils. 5. Synthesis.
 The direction and strength of PSF varied among N-acquisition strategies
 and soils differing in nutrient availability, with stronger PSF in
 younger, N-poor soils compared to older, P-impoverished soils. Our results
 highlight the importance of considering soil nutrient availability,
 plant-mediated abiotic and biotic soil properties, and plant
 nutrient-acquisition strategies when studying PSF, thereby advancing our
 mechanistic understanding of PSF during long-term ecosystem development.
description: NFPSF_JEcol_data_soil_chemSoil chemical data. Soils were field-collected along the Jurien Bay dune chronosequence in Western Australia in 2014. A subset of soils were subjected to gamma irradiation (50 kGy). Soil data in this file include: pH, total phosphorus (P), resin P, total carbon, total nitrogen, nitrate, ammonium, exchangeable potassium and exchangeable sodium concentrations, and exchangeable cation-exchange capacity. This NFPSF_JEcol_data_soil_chem.csv file was created using Microsoft Excel 2013. See 'README' file for descriptions of (abbreviated) column headings.NFPSF_JEcol_data_biomass_PSFPlant biomass and plant-soil feedback data. Common nitrogen (N)-fixing and non-N-fixing plants grown in field, biotic and abiotic soil treatments established from field-collected soils along the Jurien Bay dune chronosequence in Western Australia in 2014. Plants were grown within a glasshouse at the University of Western Australia for six months and harvested in 2015. Data in this file include: total, above- and below-ground plant biomass (fresh and dry), and plant-soil feedback values of a given plant when grown in soils conditioned by either all co-occurring heterospecific plants, or co-occurring heterospecific N-fixing plants, or co-occurring heterospecific non-N-fixing plants (compared with growth in conspecific soil). This NFPSF_JEcol_data_biomass_PSF.csv file was created using Microsoft Excel 2013. See 'README' file for descriptions of (abbreviated) column headings.