Disentangling nematode and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community effect on the growth of range-expanding Centaurea stoebe in original and new range soil

Kadri Koorem,Wim H Van Der Putten,Rutger A Wilschut,Carolin Weser

doi:10.1007/s11104-021-05020-w

Abstract

AimsNumerous organisms show range expansions in response to current climate change. Differences in expansion rates, such as between plants and soil biota, may lead to altered interactions in the new compared to the original range. While plant-soil interactions influence plant performance and stress tolerance, the roles of specific soil organisms driving these responses remain unknown.MethodsWe manipulated the abundances of nematodes and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), collected from original and new range soils, and examined their effects on the biomass of range-expanding Centaurea stoebe and native Centaurea jacea. In the first approach, nematode and AMF communities were extracted from field soils, and inoculated to sterilized soil. In the second approach, the abundance of soil organisms in soil inocula was reduced by wet sieving; at first, plants were grown to condition the soil, and then plant-soil feedback was determined under ambient and drought conditions.ResultsThe origin of soil communities did not influence the biomass production of range-expanding or native plant species, neither by addition nor by (partial) removal. However, after conditioning and under drought, range expanding C. stoebe produced more biomass with soil communities from the original range while C. jacea, native to both ranges, produced more biomass with new range soil communities.ConclusionsWe show that nematode and AMF communities from original and new range have similar effect on the growth of range expanding C. stoebe. Our results highlight that the effect of soil communities on plant growth increases after soil conditioning and under drought stress.

Highlights

Current human-induced climate change has enabled many species to expand their range to higher altitudes and latitudes (Parmesan 2006)
These findings suggest that release from pathogenic components in soil communities may benefit the performance of range-expanding plant species in the new range, which is known for introduced exotic plant species (Keane and Crawley 2002; Bardgett and van der Putten 2014)
The results of the present study did not provide evidence for our first hypothesis that nematodes from the original range will suppress the growth of range expanding C. stoebe more than nematodes from the new range

Summary

Introduction

Current human-induced climate change has enabled many species to expand their range to higher altitudes and latitudes (Parmesan 2006). Previous studies have estimated how soil communities that are modified by a plant species subsequently change plant growth This approach where soils first are conditioned by certain plants, after which the feedback effects to plants of the same or other species are tested is known as plant-soil feedback (Bever et al 1997; Kulmatiski et al 2008; van der Putten et al 2013). In such plant-soil feedback experiments, range-expanding plant species have found to be less negatively affected by soil biota than congeneric plant species that are native in the expansion range (van Grunsven et al 2007; Engelkes et al 2008; Dostálek et al 2016). Improved growth in the new range might be explained by a more

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Conclusion