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Data from: Plant-soil microbe feedbacks depend on distance and ploidy in a mixed cytotype population of Larrea tridentata

Cite this dataset

Gerstner, Benjamin; Laport, Robert; Rudgers, Jennifer; Whitney, Kenneth (2024). Data from: Plant-soil microbe feedbacks depend on distance and ploidy in a mixed cytotype population of Larrea tridentata [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.bk3j9kdk7

Abstract

Premise of the study

Theory predicts that mixed ploidy populations should be short-lived due to strong fitness disadvantages for the rare ploidy. However, mixed ploidy populations are common, suggesting that the fitness costs for rare ploidies are counterbalanced by ecological benefits that emerge when rare. We investigated whether differences in ecological interactions with soil microbes help to maintain a tetraploid-hexaploid population of Larrea tridentata (creosote bush) in the Sonoran Desert, California, USA, where prior work documented ploidy-specific root-associated microbes.

Methods

We used a plant-soil feedback (PSF) experiment to test whether host-specific soil microbes can alter the outcomes of intra-ploidy vs. inter-ploidy competition. Host-specific soil microbes can build up over time; thus, distance from a host plant can affect the fitness of nearby plants.

Key results

Seedlings grown in soils from near plants of a different ploidy produced greater biomass relative to seedlings grown in soils from near plants of the same ploidy. Moreover, seedlings grown in soils from near plants of a different ploidy produced greater biomass than those grown in soils from further away from plants of a different ploidy. This suggests the ecological consequences of PSF may facilitate the persistence of mixed ploidy populations.

Conclusions

This is the first evidence, to our knowledge, consistent with plant-soil microbe feedback as a viable mechanism to maintain the coexistence of multiple ploidy levels in a single population.

README: Plant-soil microbe feedbacks depend on distance and ploidy in a mixed cytotype population of Larrea tridentata

https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.bk3j9kdk7

Methods: We used a plant-soil feedback (PSF) experiment to test whether host-specific soil microbes can alter the outcomes of intra-ploidy vs. inter-ploidy competition. Host-specific soil microbes can build up over time; thus, distance from a host plant can affect the fitness of nearby plants.

Key results: Seedlings grown in soils from near plants of a different ploidy produced greater biomass relative to seedlings grown in soils from near plants of the same ploidy. Moreover, seedlings grown in soils from near plants of a different ploidy produced greater biomass than those grown in soils from further away from plants of a different ploidy. This suggests the ecological consequences of PSF may facilitate the persistence of mixed ploidy populations.

Conclusions: This is the first evidence, to our knowledge, consistent with plant-soil microbe feedback as a viable mechanism to maintain the coexistence of multiple ploidy levels in a single population.

Description of Data

Details for : Gerstner_PSF Data.xlsx

Description: Data file of final plant biomass (total, below and above) for all plants in the plant-soil feedback experiment. Metadata tab included.

Format: xlsx

Size: 56kb

Dimensions: 13x577

Variables:

  • Parent.ID: These are values for the original collections of soils. These plant ID correspond to permanently marked plants by Robert Laport and are available upon direct request to him.

  • Parent.Pair: These are values demonstrating the pairing of a tetraploid and hexaploid plant from the field. Each parent.pair is one complete replicate of the experiment.

  • distance: These are values from 1 to 8, where 1 is -0.1m from the shrub dripline (sd), 2 is at the sd aka 0m in figures, 3 is 0.25m from sd, 4 is 0.5m from sd, 5 is 0.75m, 6 is 1m from sd, 7 is 1.5m from sd and 8 is 2m from sd.

  • Parent.ploidy: These are T = tetraploid or H = hexaploid. These correspond to the determination by Robert Laport in previously published work (see Methods section of article).

  • Seed.ploidy: These are T = tetraploid or H = hexaploid. These correspond to seeds collected from likely single ploidy sources.

  • microbe: These are L = live, meaning with microbes or S = sterile, meaning with sterilzed soils.

  • interaction.type: These are a combination of parent.ploidy and seed.ploidy. Order of letters matters.

  • pot.id: These are individual pot identifiers, they are not entirely continuouis. Breaks were incorporated in the numbering schema around the interaction type, parent.pair and distance.

  • colonized: These are determinations from the root slide colonization observations of whether fungal hyphae evidence was present.

  • percent_colonization: This is a percentage based upon 80-100 views of each microscope slide to determine the percent of root colonization.

  • mass.dry.above: This is the dry mass of above ground biomass.

  • mass.dry.below: This is the dry mass of below ground biomass.

  • mass.dry.total: This is the sum of above and below ground biomass.

Missing data codes: NA

Funding

Society for the Study of Evolution, Award: Graduate Research Excellence Grant, Rosemary Grant Advanced Award

National Science Foundation, Award: DGE-1939267, Graduate Education