DOI: 10.5061/dryad.gxd2547w0
title: Data from: Phenotypic plasticity accounts for changes in plant phosphorus-acquisition strategies from mining to scavenging along a gradient of soil phosphorus availability in South American Campos grasslands

description: Plants have evolved numerous traits to acquire phosphorus (P).
 Correspondingly, soil P availability modulates the functional composition
 of many plant communities. However, it is unclear to what extent plant
 species modulate the expression of different P-acquisition strategies
 (phenotypic plasticity). Moreover, how does variation in soil P
 availability interact with plant phenotypic plasticity and species
 turnover to determine what P-acquisition strategies are present in highly
 diverse communities? To address these questions, we assessed associations
 between plant-available soil P and the magnitude of several P-acquisition
 traits in both individual species and plant communities in Campos
 grasslands.  Root phosphatase activity (phosphomonoesterase and
 phosphodiesterase), leaf manganese (Mn) concentration (a proxy for
 carboxylate concentration in the rhizosphere) and arbuscular mycorrhizal
 (AM) colonization were assessed in 105, 52, and 54 native plant species,
 respectively, sampled across three to seven plant communities with
 contrasting concentrations of plant-available soil P. Furthermore, root
 diameter and plant cover of those species were also quantified. 
 Variation in P-acquisition strategies among species was large: 157- and
 118-fold for phosphatases, 96-fold for leaf [Mn], and 39-fold for AM
 colonization. Between half and two-thirds of the variation in
 community-weighted mean P-acquisition traits was accounted for by the
 interactive factors plant-available soil P, soil pH, and root diameter. At
 low P availability, phosphatases and carboxylate exudation (P-mining
 traits) and thin roots predominated, particularly at low soil pH. At
 higher P availability, AM associations (P-scavenging trait) and thicker
 roots were more common.  Phenotypic plasticity was a major source
 of variation in the response of P-acquisition traits to soil properties,
 particularly for P-mining traits. Our results reveal that plasticity of
 the expression of plant P-acquisition strategies in individual species was
 more important than changes in species presence or cover as a mechanism
 underlying shifts between P-mining and P-scavenging strategies as plant P
 availability varied across communities.
description: # Phenotypic plasticity accounts for changes in plant
 phosphorus-acquisition strategies from mining to scavenging along a
 gradient of soil phosphorus availability in South American Campos
 grasslands
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.gxd2547w0](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.gxd2547w0) ## Description of the data and file structure In seven sites in Uruguay and south Brazil, comprising natural grasslands, and in four plots per sites were collected leaf, root of most frequent plant species, and soil samples. The sampling period was spring and autumn. Samples collected from sites in Uruguay were processed in the Experimental Station of Faculty of Agronomy, University of the Republic, Salto. Samples collected in sites in south Brazil were processed in the Universidade Federal de Rio Grande do Sul. Briefly, root phosphomonoesterase and phosphodiesterase activity was quantified for 106 and 105 plant species of seven sites. Root arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization was quantified in 52 plant species in 3 sites. Leaf Manganese concentration as a proxy for root carboxylate exudation was assesed in 54 plant species in four sites. Root diameter was assesed by developing a root diameter score adjusted with root diameter data of plant species of one site. Soil samples of seven sites were analyzed for soil [total P], soil [organic P], soil [resin P], soil [total N], soil [organic C], clay content, silt content, sand content, pH in water. Data on botanic composition and plant cover of each plot of each site was collected.   ### Files and variables #### File: JEcol-2023-0889.xlsx **Description:** .Xlsx file comprising 22 variables in 850 rows. ##### Variables: 1. site: Site identity, as a number from one to seven. 2. plot: Plot identity for each site, as a number from one to four. 3. siteplot: Combination of Site identity with Plot identity. 4.  spsname: Plant species scientific name. 5. fam: Botanic family each species belongs to. 6. spsab: Abreviation of plant species name. 7. rootdiamscore: Root diameter score defined for each plant species (score one to three, from thin to thick). 8. amfcol: Root arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization value (as percentage of total root length colonized by arbuscules). 9. mn: Leaf Manganese concentration  value (as miligram Manganese per kilogram dry mass of leaf). 10. actdiest: Root phosphodiesterase activity value (as microgram of phosphorus released per gram of fresh root per hour of incubation of the root sample). 11. actmono: Root phosphomonoesterase activity value (as microgram of phosphorus released per gram of fresh root per hour of incubation of the root sample).  12. cover: Mean aerial biomass cover of the species in the plant community of each plot (as percentage of cover from total cover in one square meter). 13. pH_H2O: Soil pH quantified in water for a soil sample of 0-20 cm depth (pH from one to 14). 14. pH_KCl: Soil pH quantified in KCl for a soil sample of 0-20 cm depth (pH from one to 14). 15. clay: Soil clay content in 0-20 cm soil sample depth (as a percentage of clay from total content of clay plus silt plus sand, base 100 percent). 16. sand: Soil sand content in 0-20 cm soil sample depth (as a percentage of sand from total content of clay plus silt plus sand, base 100 percent). 17. silt: Soil silt content in 0-20 cm soil sample depth (as a percentage of silt from total content of clay plus silt plus sand, base 100 percent). 18. c: Soil organic carbon content in 0-20 cm soil sample depth (as percentage of carbon from total soil dry biomass base 100 percent). 19. ntotal: Soil total nitrogen concentration in 0-20 cm soil sample depth (as miligram of nitrogen per kilogram of dry soil). 20. porganic: Soil organic phosphorus concentration in 0-20 cm soil sample depth (as miligram of organic phosphorus per kilogram of dry soil). 21. ptotal: Soil total phosphorus concentration in 0-20 cm soil sample depth (as miligram of phosphorus per kilogram of dry soil). 22. presin: Soil phosphorus concentration of phosphorus extracted by cationic exchange resins in 0-20 cm soil sample depth (as miligram of phosphorus per kilogram of dry soil). Note: "NA" located in cells of the database means "not applicable", i.e. there is no data for that particular variable and that particular sample.  ## Code/software Data can be viewed in openoffice. All statisticall analysis have been carried out, and figures and samples designed, in R software version 4.2.2 (R Core Team, 2022). Scripts of analysis and graphic designs have not been included in the submission.