Effects of long-term mowing on leaf- and root-associated bacterial community structures are linked to functional traits in 11 plant species from a temperate steppe
Data files
Apr 12, 2023 version files 30.68 KB
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plant_traits_and_soil_metrics.csv
29.28 KB
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README.md
1.40 KB
Nov 23, 2024 version files 37.85 KB
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plant_soil_data.xlsx
35.20 KB
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README.md
2.65 KB
Abstract
Long-term mowing can cause morphological stuntedness of plants, thus reducing grassland productivity and exacerbating grassland degradation. Although plant microbiomes can enhance plant resistance against disturbance, considerable uncertainty exists regarding how mowing and mowing-induced plant trait plasticity affect plant microbiomes in natural grasslands.
Here we examined the responses of leaf-/root-associated bacterial (LAB/RAB) communities of 11 dominant herbaceous perennials (6 replicates per species) to a 17-year mowing treatment in a temperate grassland. We also measured leaf/root physiological and morphological traits and analyzed the relationships among mowing practice, bacterial community structures, and leaf/root trait parameters.
We found that both leaf and root functional traits showed interspecific variations (variations across different plant species), while only the leaf traits exhibited intraspecific variation (treatment-induced variations within plant species) between the treatments. Similarly, the LAB community structure was more sensitive to mowing but less influenced by host species identity, compared to the RAB community. The RAB community structure was primarily shaped by host species identity, while mowing was a secondary influencing factor.
The different patterns of LAB and RAB communities in response to mowing could be specifically explained by the inter-/intraspecific variations of the related leaf and root traits. The LAB community was strongly correlated with the leaf traits which exhibited mowing-induced plasticity (intraspecific variation), with the correlations with nitrogen resorption efficiency and aboveground dry weight being the greatest. The root traits were important indicators of bacterial community structure in the root compartment across the hosts, rather than between the treatments. Root tissue density showed the strongest interspecific variation, and was identified as an overwhelming driver of the RAB community. The shifts in LAB/RAB communities under mowing were largely attributed to the increased proportions of Actinobacteria. The high mowing sensitivity of the LAB community was associated with the enrichment of soil-derived Actinobacteria in leaves under mowing. Actinobacteria were also the main keystone taxa in the bacterial community networks under mowing.
Our results demonstrate that the magnitude of plant-associated microbial community response to long-term mowing is plant compartment- and trait-variation-dependent, and advance our understanding of the leaf/root microbiome-trait relationships in complex plant communities.
README
Leaf/root trait parameters and soil metrics under mowing in a temperate steppe
The data file includes the leaf and root trait parameters of 11 grassland plant species and the soil metrics from the two treatments (control and mowing) in this study. The relationships between the leaf/root/soil parameters and the bacterial communities associated with plant leaves/roots were analyzed in the study.
Description of the data and file structure:
- In the "Leaf and Root Traits" table, the first column indicates the treatments, the second column provides the plant species names, the third column offers the abbreviation for the plant species names, the fourth column specifies the plant families, the fifth column denotes the types of cotyledon, the sixth column gives the experiment replicate numbers, and the remaining columns list the names of plant trait parameters. In the "Soil Properties" table, the first column indicates the treatments, the second column provides the experiment replicate numbers, and the remaining columns list the names of soil property parameters.
- Notes to the parameters (the abbreviations were used in the figures of the paper): aboveground dry weight (ADW, g plant-1), leaf area (LA, cm2), leaf total carbon (leaf C, %), leaf total nitrogen (leaf N, %), leaf nitrogen resorption efficiency (NRE), specific leaf area (SLA, cm2 g-1), root dry weight (RDW, g plant-1), root diameter (RD, mm), root total carbon (root C, %), root total nitrogen (root N, %), root tissue density (RTD, g cm-3), specific root area (SRA, cm2 g-1), specific root length (SRL, m g-1), soil total carbon (C, %), soil calcium (Ca, g kg-1), soil iron (Fe, mg kg-1), soil potassium (K, g kg-1), soil manganese (Mn, mg kg-1), soil total nitrogen (N, %), soil NH4+ (NH4, mg kg-1), soil NO3- (NO3, mg kg-1), soil phosphorus (P, g kg-1), soil water content (SWC).
Data Update Description:
The updates in this version of the data involve two main aspects. Firstly, additional information related to plant names and classification has been included. More importantly, the data presentation has been edited into a more readable format to facilitate data reuse. In the previous version (April, 2023), the bulk soil physicochemical properties and plant trait parameters were placed in the same sheet. However, since the bulk soil samples were collected based on experimental treatments rather than specific plant species, combining plant and soil data in one sheet could potentially lead to misunderstandings. Therefore, in this updated version, plant trait data and soil data have been separated into two distinct tables within a single .xlsx file.