Agricultural soil legacy influences multitrophic interactions between crops, their pathogens, and pollinators
Data files
Nov 15, 2023 version files 95.24 KB
Abstract
Soil legacy influences plant interactions with antagonists and below-ground mutualists. Plant-antagonist interactions can jeopardize, while soil mutualists can enhance, plant-pollinator interactions. This suggests that soil legacy, either directly or mediated through plant symbionts, affects pollinators. However, despite the importance of pollinators to natural and managed ecosystems, there is almost no information on how soil legacy affects plant-pollinator interactions. We assessed effects of soil management legacy (organic vs. conventional) on floral rewards and plant interactions with wild pollinators, herbivores, beneficial fungi, and pathogens. We used an observational dataset and structural equation models to evaluate hypothesized relationships between soil and pollinators, then tested observed correlations in a manipulative experiment. Organic legacy increased mycorrhizal fungal colonization and improved resistance to powdery mildew, which promoted pollinator visitation. Further, soil legacy and powdery mildew independently and interactively impacted plant traits important to pollinators, including floral traits and floral reward nutrients. Our results indicate that pollination could be an overlooked consequence of soil legacy and suggests opportunity to develop long-term soil management plans that benefit pollinators and pollination.
README: Agricultural soil legacy influences multitrophic interactions between crops, their pathogens, and pollinators
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.f7m0cfz31
Description of the data and file structure
Experiment 1 files
These files correspond to data and analyses used for "experiment 1" in associated manuscript. In these data files, 'org.conv' refers to whether soil came from fields with organic or conventional legacy; 'fertility' refers to whether fields had a legacy of synthetic fertilizer, cover cropping, high organic, or low organic fertility inputs; 'field' refers to specific plot from which soil was collected; and 'site' refers to soil collection site. NA values in cells occur when there were no data available.
experiment1_herbivore.csv
csv file with data on herbivore abundance on plants grown in soils with different management legacies. The file includes data on the number of leaves in the plant (‘n.leaves’), the proportion of leaves with herbivore damage (‘propleavesherb’), and the number of herbivores found on the plant (‘all.herbs’). This file is used in the R script Davis_et_al_experiment1_herbivore.R.
experiment1_SEM.csv
csv file with data on the number of leaves on the plant (‘n.leaves’), the proportion of leaves infected with powdery mildew (‘propleavespowdery’), proportion of leaves with herbivore damage (‘propleavesherb’), number of bee visitors (‘total.visitors’), the number of flowers on the plant (‘season.total.flow’), and the protein content of the plant's pollen (‘protein.content’). This file is used in the R script Davis_et_al_experiment1_SEM.R.
experiment1_soil analyses.csv
csv file with data on soil properties for each of the fields where soil collection took place. This file contains data on percent soil organic matter content (‘Organic Matter %’), pH (‘pH’), and mineral content in parts per million of: aluminum (‘Al_ppm’), calcium (‘Ca_ppm’), iron (‘Fe_ppm’), potassium (‘K_ppm’), magnesium (‘Mg_ppm’), manganese (‘Mn_ppm’), potassium (‘P_ppm’), and zinc (‘Zn_ppm’). This file is used in the R script Davis_et_al_experiment1_soil analyses.R.
Experiment 2 data files
These files correspond to data and analyses used for "experiment 2" in associated manuscript. In these data files, 'treatment" column refers to whether plants were experimentally inoculated with powdery mildew ('PM') or not ('CONTROL'); "og_conv" column refers to whether plants were grown in soils with conventional or organic management legacies; "mgmt" indicates the soil's fertility management legacy; "field_id" indicates the field from which soil was collected; "room" refers to the greenhouse in which the plant was located throughout the experiment; and, "side_of_gh" refers to individual plant's spatial location within the greenhouse. NA values in cells occur when there were no data available.
experiment2_floral rewards.csv
csv file with data on floral traits for plants grown in different soil legacies and powdery mildew conditions. Data is included on powdery mildew infection area (‘prop_pm’), flower corolla width in mm (‘flow_width’), time of day nectar was sampled (in minutes) (‘total_minutes’), whether nectar sample was diluted for sugar quantification (‘diluted’), nectar sampling date (‘nectar_date’), nectar sampling date in Julian days (‘nectar_julian_date’), nectar volume (‘calculated_volume’), nectar sugar concentration in Brix (‘adjusted_brix’), nectar sugar content per flower in g per mL (‘g_sugar_gmL’), protein assay batch number (‘plate’), pollen sampling date in Julian days (‘pollen_julian_date’), and pollen protein content in µg/mL (‘relative_protein’). NA values in cells occur when there were no data available. This file is used in the R script Davis_et_al_experiment2_flower traits.R.
experiment2_nflowers.csv
csv file with data on the number of flowers produced by each plant (‘total_flowers’) and powdery mildew infection intensity expressed as proportion of leaf area infected (‘prop_pm’). NA values in cells occur when there were no data available. This file is used in the R script Davis_et_al_experiment2_flower traits.R.
experiment2_phenology.csv
csv file with data on plant flowering phenology is included. This contains information on the number of days after planting it took to observe a flower (‘days_to_flow’). ‘experiment_start’ refers to the start of the experiment when plants were planted, and ‘flow_pres’ indicates the presence of a flower. This file is used in the R script Davis_et_al_experiment2_flower traits.R.
experiment2_mycorrhizae.csv
csv file with data on mycorrhizal colonization of roots grown in different soil legacies and powdery mildew conditions. Data on the number of arbuscules (‘arbuscules’), hyphae (‘hyphae’), vesicles (‘vesicles’), and microsclerotia (‘microscl’) observed using a transect method are included, as well as total percent colonization (calculated by dividing the total number of observed mycorrhizal structures (‘n_observed_structures’) by the total number of transects observed (‘total_obs’)) is included. This file is used in the R script Davis_et_al_experiment2_pm_myco.R.
experiment2_powdery mildew.csv
csv file with data on powdery mildew infection intensity. Data is included on the number of leaves on the plant (‘n_leaves’), average leaf area in cm2 (‘avg_leaf_area’), powdery mildew infection area in cm2 (‘prop_pm’), total leaf area in cm2 (‘total_leaf_area’), and the proportion of leaf area infected with powdery mildew, calculated by dividing powdery mildew infection area by total leaf area (‘prop_pm’). This file is used in the R script Davis_et_al_experiment2_pm_myco.R.
Experiment 3 data files
These files correspond to data and analyses used for "experiment 3" in associated manuscript. In these data files, the column name 'microcolony' refers to the bumble bee micro-colony; 'source_colony' refers to the parent colony that provided bees to produce the micro-colony; 'og_conv' indicates whether pollen came from plants grown in organic or conventional legacy soils; 'mgmt' indicates the soil's fertility management legacy; 'pm_treat' indicates whether pollen came from plants infected or not infected with powdery mildew.
experiment3_brood.csv
csv file with data on the number of days microcolonies took to produce new brood cells. This file is used in the R script Davis_et_al_experiment3_brood.R.
experiment3_pollen consumption.csv
csv file with data on the average pollen consumption of microcolonies in bioassays. This file is used in the R script Davis_et_al_experiment3_survival.R.
experiment3_survival.csv
csv file with data on the survival of individual adult bees in bioassays. This file is used in the R script Davis_et_al_experiment3_survival.R.
Code/Software
R code for experiment 1
- Davis_et_al_experiment1_herbivore.R This R script performs analyses on effect of soil legacy on herbivore abundance for experiment 1 in associated manuscript.
- Davis_et_al_experiment1_SEM.R This R script performs structural equation models for experiment 1 in associated manuscript.
- Davis_et_al_experiment1_soil analyses.R This script performs soil composition analyses for experiment 1 in associated manuscript.
R code for experiment 2
- Davis_et_al_experiment2_flower traits.R This R script performs analyses on nectar, flower morphology, flowering phenology, and floral abundance for experiment 2 in associated manuscript.
- Davis_et_al_experiment2_pm_myco.R This script performs analyses on powdery mildew infection intensity and mycorrhizal colonization for experiment 2 in associated manuscript.
R code for experiment 3
- Davis_et_al_experiment3_brood.R This R script performs analyses on days to new brood production for experiment 3 in associated manuscript.
- Davis_et_al_experiment3_survival.R This R script performs adult bee survival analyses for experiment 3 in associated manuscript.