Plant-soil feedback and the maintenance of diversity in Mediterranean-climate shrublands

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 355; no. 6321; pp. 173 - 176
• Main Authors: Teste, François P., Kardol, Paul, Turner, Benjamin L., Wardle, David A., Zemunik, Graham, Renton, Michael, Laliberté, Etienne
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Association for the Advancement of Science 13-01-2017; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Australia; Bacteria; Biodiversity; Biota; Biota - physiology; Climate; Feedback; Feedback (Response); Feedback, Physiological; Flowers & plants; Forest Science; Fungi; Herbivores; Maintenance; Mediterranean Region; Negative feedback; Nutrients; Plant Development; Plant diversity; Plant growth; Plant species; Plants; Plants (botany); Plants (organisms); Populations; Positive feedback; Seeds; Shrublands; Shrubs; Skogsvetenskap; Soil; Soils; Strategy; Survival
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.aai8291

Soil biota influence plant performance through plant-soil feedback, but it is unclear whether the strength of such feedback depends on plant traits and whether plant-soil feedback drives local plant diversity. We grew 16 co-occurring plant species with contrasting nutrient-acquisition strategies from hyperdiverse Australian shrublands and exposed them to soil biota from under their own or other plant species. Plant responses to soil biota varied according to their nutrient-acquisition strategy, including positive feedback for ectomycorrhizal plants and negative feedback for nitrogen-fixing and nonmycorrhizal plants. Simulations revealed that such strategy-dependent feedback is sufficient to maintain the high taxonomic and functional diversity characterizing these Mediterranean-climate shrublands. Our study identifies nutrient-acquisition strategy as a key trait explaining how different plant responses to soil biota promote local plant diversity.