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Dryad

Data for: Male, female and mixed-sex poplar plantations support divergent soil microbial communities

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Feb 23, 2024 version files 121.29 KB

Abstract

Mixed-species forests are often more productive than monocultures because of a lower niche overlap and higher taxonomic and functional diversity of soil microbial communities. Males and females of dioecious plants have sex-specific adaptations to diverse habitats. The potential of using sexual differences in establishing more diverse poplar plantations has not been explored in degraded areas. We conducted a series of greenhouse and field experiments to investigate how belowground competition, soil microbial communities and seasonal variation nitrogen content differ among female, male and mixed-sex Populus cathayana plantations. In the greenhouse experiment, female neighbors suppressed the growth of males under optimal nitrogen conditions. However, male neighbors enhanced δ15N of females under inter-sexual competition. In the field, the root length density, root area density and biomass of fine roots were lower in female plantations than in male or mixed-sex plantations. Bacterial networks of female, male and mixed-sex plantations were characterized by different composition of hub nodes, including connectors, module and network hubs. The sex composition of plantations altered bacterial and fungal community structures according to Bray-Curtis distances, with 44% and 65% of variance explained by the root biomass, respectively. The total soil nitrogen content of mixed-sex plantation was higher than that in female plantation in spring and summer. The mixed-sex plantation also had a higher β-1,4-N-acetyl-glucosaminidase activity in summer and a higher nitrification rate in autumn than the other two plantations. The seasonal soil N content, nitrification rate and root distribution traits demonstrated spatiotemporal niche separation in the mixed-sex plantation. We argue that a strong female-female competition and limited nitrogen content could strongly impede plant growth and reduce the resistance of monosex plantations to climate change and the mixed-sex plantations constitutes a promising way to restore degraded land.