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Native plant diversity generates microbial legacies that either promote or suppress non-natives, depending on drought history

Tao, Zhibin1; Zhang, Kaoping1; Callaway, Ragan2; Siemann, Evan3; Liu, Yanjie4; Huang, Wei1

Published May 13, 2024; Updated Jul 31, 2024 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.905qfttt0

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May 13, 2024 version files 15.60 MB
Jul 31, 2024 version files 5.65 MB

Abstract

Diverse native plant communities resist non-native plants more than species-poor communities, in part through resource competition. The role of soil biota in diversity-invasibility relationships is poorly understood, although non-native plants interact with soil biota during invasions. We tested the responses of non-native plants to soil biota generated by different native plant diversities. We applied well-watered and drought treatments in both conditioning and response phases to explore the effects of “historical” and “contemporary” environmental stresses. When generated in well-watered soils, the microbial legacies from higher native diversity inhibited non-native growth in well-watered conditions. In contrast, when generated in drought-treated soils, the microbial legacies from higher native diversity facilitated non-native growth in well-watered conditions. Contemporary drought eliminated microbial legacy effects on non-native growth. We provide a new understanding of mechanisms behind diversity-invasibility relationships and demonstrate that temporal variation in environmental stress shapes relationships among native plant diversity, soil biota and non-native plants.