Data from: Predators in the plant-soil feedback loop: aboveground plant-associated predators may alter the outcome of plant-soil interactions
Data files
Feb 01, 2019 version files 960.46 KB
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README_for_Smith-Ramesh Dryad Archive.rtf
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Smith-Ramesh Dryad Archive.zip
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Abstract
Plant-soil feedback (PSF) can structure plant communities, promoting coexistence (negative PSF) or monodominance (positive PSF). At higher trophic levels, predators can alter plant community structure by re-allocating resources within habitats. When predator and plant species are spatially associated, predators may alter the outcome of PSF. Here, I explore the influence of plant-associated predators on PSF using a generalized cellular automaton model that tracks nutrients, plants, herbivores, and predators. I explore key contingencies in plant-predator associations such as whether predators associate with live vs. senesced vegetation. Results indicate that plant-associated predators shift PSF to favor the host plant when predators colonize live vegetation, but the outcome of PSF will depend upon plant dispersal distance when predators colonize dead vegetation. I apply the model to two spider-associated invasive plants, finding that spider predators should shift PSF dynamics in a way that inhibits invasion by one forest invader, but exacerbates invasion by another.