DOI: 10.5061/dryad.37pvmcvvj
title: Climate-driven shifts in plant-soil feedback of a perennial grass species

description: Plant-soil feedback (PSF) plays a key role in determining the composition
 of plant communities, and understanding the impact of the ongoing climate
 change on PSF is thus crucial for predicting the consequences of climate
 change for ecosystems. Here, we conducted a growth-chamber experiment to
 examine possible climate-driven shifts in PSF of a perennial grass,
 Festuca rubra, originating from two climatically distinct sites, by using
 all factorial combinations of soil biota origin, plant origin, and
 cultivation climate.  Soil biota generated more negative PSF
 effects when grown under the climatic conditions of their origin. This
 observation suggests that soil biota, especially soil pathogens, are well
 adapted to their local climate, exhibiting greater efficiency in
 suppressing plant growth within their climatic conditions.  All
 plants, regardless of their origin, exhibited less negative PSF (expressed
 as relative performance in live vs sterilized soil) when grown under
 warmer climate than under colder climate, likely due to positive effects
 of increased activity of soil decomposers and enhanced nutrient
 cycling.  Plants showed negative PSF when grown with local soil
 biota under home climate, and the negative PSF disappeared when plants
 were grown with foreign biota or in away climates. This suggests that any
 disruption of the established plant-soil-climate interactions may lead to
 the release of plants from negative PSF, potentially destabilizing plant
 communities.  Synthesis: Our results highlight the adaptions of
 soil biota to their native climate as key drivers of PSF interactions and
 suggest that climate change could significantly alter these interactions,
 potentially leading to new plant community dynamics. These findings
 emphasize the need for further investigations to unravel the mechanisms
 driving these responses and evaluate their consequences for ecosystem
 resilience in the face of climate change. 
description: # Climate-driven shifts in plant-soil feedback of a perennial grass
 species
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.37pvmcvvj](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.37pvmcvvj) ## Description of the data and file structure In this study, we investigated the interaction between soil biota origin, plant origin, and cultivation climate in plant-soil feedback (PSF) of a model species *Festuca rubra*. We conducted a two-phase growth chamber experiment, examining PSF of *F. rubra* originating from two climatically distinct sites, when grown with soil biota originating from the two sites, cultivated under climatic conditions representing the climate the two sites. We assessed *Festuca‘s* biotic and whole-soil PSF under all treatments. Biotic PSF was defined as relative performance of plants when grown in live (non-sterilized) vs sterilized soil, and whole-soil PSF as relative performance of plants when grown in self-conditioned vs community-conditioned soil.  ### Files and variables #### File: JEcol\_Florianova\_data.xlsx **Description:** The .xlsx file contains raw data on performance of *Festuca rubra* from the second (feedback) phase of the experiment under the different treatments.   ##### Variables * sample - identifier of a pot / plant in the feedback phase * block - identifier of all pots originating from one soil inoculum  * soil_origin - site from which a soil sample was taken ("warm, dry" or"cold, wet" site) * soil_conditioning - type of soil conditioning used in the first (conditioning) phase of the experiment; soils were either conditioned by *Festuca* *rubra* ("Festuca"), or by a plant community excluding Festuca ("community"), consisting of a *Veronica*, *Alchemilla* and *Anthoxanthum* species * soil_sterilization - indicating whether soil after the conditioning phase was "sterilized" or "nonsterilized" * plant_origin - site from which the studied individual of *Festuca rubra* was taken ("warm, dry" or "cold, wet" site) * cultivation_climate - climate under which the plants were grown in the feedback phase in a growth chamber (simulated climate corresponding to the climates at the "warm, dry" or "cold, wet" sites) * number_ramets - number of ramets created by *Festuca rubra *at the time of harvest of the feedback phase of the experiment * shoot_biomass - aboveground biomass of *F. rubra* at the time of harvest of the feedback phase, in grams * root_biomass - belowground biomass of *F. rubra* at the time of harvest of the feedback phase, in grams * FvFm - maximum photosystem II efficiency (Fv/Fm) of *F. rubra* at the time of harvest of the feedback phase * root_phenols - the concentration of total phenolic compounds in roots of *F. rubra* at the time of harvest of the feedback phase, in mg/g * root_N - concentration of nitrogen in roots of *F. rubra* at the time of harvest of the feedback phase, in % * root_C - concentration of carbon in roots of *F. rubra* at the time of harvest of the feedback phase, in % "NA" throughout the dataset = not available  ## Code/software The data can be viewed using Microsoft Excel or other programme reading .xlsx files.  ## Access information n/a