Data from: Parental environment nitrogen and phosphorus availability affects offspring traits of eight annual plant species
Data files
Nov 28, 2024 version files 122.42 KB
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README.md
5.30 KB
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VMinden_Dryad-Data_FWO-paper2.xlsx
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Abstract
The rates in which nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are entering natural plant communities have reached unprecedented levels, resulting in increasingly imbalanced N:P ratios potentially aggravating both plant invasions and plant extinctions. Plants may cope with changing environments via phenotypic plasticity, which may occur within one generation or between generations (transgenerational plasticity, TGP). Here, we investigated TGP in plant traits in response to variation in N and P availabilities, in eight annual plant species comprising endangered, nonendangered and invasive species. We hypothesized that adaptive effects would be evident when parental and offspring environments match. We also expected endangered species to exhibit the lowest, and invasive species the highest, adaptive TGP-potential. A parental generation was raised under N-limitation, balanced nutrient supply and P-limitation, from which an offspring generation was grown under either the same or another option of these nutrient conditions. Across all species, offspring plants of N-stressed parents showed thin roots, i.e. low average root diameter, which is advantageous under N-limitation when repeatedly exposed to N-limitation, and offspring of P-stressed parents showed highest levels of phosphomonoesterase activity (PME activity), associated with P-uptake, when repeatedly grown under P-limitation. Contrary to our expectation, endangered species with P-stressed parents performed better than nonendangered or invasive species especially when grown under P-limitation in the offspring generation, probably due to a higher PME activity and longer and thicker roots. Our results demonstrate that the parental nutrient environment can have profound effects on offspring fitness and trait expressions, especially when parental and offspring environments match. There, TGP in response to parental nutrient limitation pre-adapts the offspring generation, resulting in individuals exhibiting traits associated with higher nutrient uptake under nutrient deficient conditions. Overall, our findings indicate that TGP may play a significant role in the realised niches of plant species in general, and specifically in endangered species.
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.djh9w0w8x
Description of the data and file structure
This dataset relates to the article “Parental environment nitrogen and phosphorus availability affects offspring traits of eight annual plant species” accepted for publication in Oikos (doi: 10.1111/oik.10993), by Vanessa Minden, Koen J.F. Verhoeven and Harry Olde Venterink.
Corresponding author Vanessa Minden, email: vanessa.minden@vub.be
The dataset contains plant trait information of 8 annual species (grasses and non legume-forbs).
A parental generation was raised under N (nitrogen) limitation, balanced nutrient supply and P (phosphorus) limitation, from which an offspring generation was grown under either the same or another option of these nutrient conditions. Plants of both the parental and offspring generation were raised in a greenhouse. Plants of the offspring generation were harvested after eight weeks and traits were measured.
General information: Species (species name), Family (Poaceae, Onagraceae), Maturity (all plants mature at time of harvest), Status (plant species considered either invasive, endangered or non-endangered in central Europe), Plant Growth Form (grasses and non legume-forbs), Life Span (annual), Start experiment (start date for each individual), End experiment (date of harvest for each individual), Treatment Parental Generation (N limitation, balanced nutrient supply, P limitation), Treatment Offspring Generation (N limitation, balanced nutrient supply, P limitation), total.supply.rate.N.mg.Offspring.generation (total amount of N supplied to each individual in the offspring generation in the course of the experiment, i.e. 13.5mg, 40.5mg, 121.5mg), total.supply.rate.P.mg.Offspring.generation (total amount of P supplied to each individual in the offspring generation in the course of the experiment, i.e. 8.1mg, 2.7mg, 0.9mg), repeats.per.trt (number of repetitions per trt and species, 1-10).
Plant species: Avena sterilis, Bromus secalinus, Epilobium anagallidifolium, Epilobium ciliatum, Epilobium fleischeri, Hordeum jubatum, Hordeum murinum, Lolium temulentum
Plant traits include: Total Biomass (mg), Relative Growth Rate (mg/mgday), Total leaf area (mm²), Specific leaf area (SLA, mm²/mg), Leaf dry matter content (LDMC, mg/g), SPAD (measure of chlorophyll content, dimensionless), Root mass ratio (RMR, mg/mg), Total root length (m), Specific root length (SRL, m/mg), Root surface area (cm²), Average root diameter (mm), Root phosphomonoesterase activity (PME, µmol pNPP /gh).
Measurement for most traits followed Pérez-Harguindeguy, N., et al. (2013). “New handbook for standardised measurement of plant functional traits worldwide.” Australian Journal of Botany 61: 167-234.
Files and variables
File: VMinden_Dryad-Data_FWO-paper2.xlsx
Description: The dataset contains plant trait information of 8 annual species (grasses and non legume-forbs).
A parental generation was raised under N (nitrogen) limitation, balanced nutrient supply and P (phosphorus) limitation, from which an offspring generation was grown under either the same or another option of these nutrient conditions. Plants of both the parental and offspring generation were raised in a greenhouse. Plants of the offspring generation were harvested after eight weeks and traits were measured.
Variables
- Plant species (Avena sterilis, Bromus secalinus, Epilobium anagallidifolium, Epilobium ciliatum, Epilobium fleischeri, Hordeum jubatum, Hordeum murinum, Lolium temulentum)
- Family (Poaceae, Onagraceae)
- Maturity (all plants mature at time of harvest)
- Status (plant species considered either invasive, endangered or non-endangered in central Europe)
- Plant Growth Form (grasses and non legume-forbs)
- Life Span (annual)
- Start experiment (start date for each individual)
- End experiment (date of harvest for each individual)
- Treatment Parental Generation (N limitation, balanced nutrient supply, P limitation)
- Treatment Offspring Generation (N limitation, balanced nutrient supply, P limitation)
- total.supply.rate.N.mg.Offspring.generation (total amount of N supplied to each individual in the offspring generation in the course of the experiment, i.e. 13.5mg, 40.5mg, 121.5mg)
- total.supply.rate.P.mg.Offspring.generation (total amount of P supplied to each individual in the offspring generation in the course of the experiment, i.e. 8.1mg, 2.7mg, 0.9mg)
- repeats.per.trt (number of repetitions per trt and species, 1-8).
- Total Biomass (mg)
- Relative Growth Rate (mg/mg*day)
- Total leaf area, measured without petiole, (mm²)
- Specific leaf area, measured without petiole, (SLA, mm²/mg)
- Leaf dry matter content, measured without petiole, (LDMC, mg/g)
- SPAD (measure of chlorophyll content, dimensionless)
- Root mass ratio (RMR, mg/mg)
- Total root length (m)
- Specific root length (SRL, m/mg)
- Root surface area (cm²)
- Average root diameter (mm)
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Root phosphomonoesterase activity (PME, µmol pNPP /g*h)
missing values are indicated by ‘NA’
Code/software
Data are provided in an Excel sheet