Abstract
Plants can change soil biology, chemistry and structure in ways that alter subsequent plant growth. This process, referred to as plant-soil feedback (PSF), has been suggested to provide mechanisms for plant diversity, succession and invasion. Here we use three meta-analytical models: a mixed model and two Bayes models, one correcting for sampling dependence and one correcting for sampling and hierarchical dependence (delta-splitting model) to test these hypotheses. All three models showed that PSFs have medium to large negative effects on plant growth, and especially grass growth, the life form for which we had the most data. This supports the hypothesis that PSFs, through negative frequency dependence, maintain plant diversity, especially in grasslands. PSFs were also large and negative for annuals and natives, but the delta-splitting model indicated that more studies are needed for these results to be conclusive. Our results support the hypotheses that PSFs encourage successional replacements and plant invasions. Most studies were performed using monocultures of grassland species in greenhouse conditions. Future research should examine PSFs in plant communities, non-grassland systems and field conditions.
Highlights
In the past 5 years, there has been a rapid increase in theoretical and experimental plant–soil feedback (PSF) research
The average effect sizes of PSFs on plant growth were between )0.58 and )0.75, in the mixed and sampling models respectively. This range of effect sizes on plant growth was comparable or larger than those observed in meta-analyses of pathogenic fungi (Levine et al 2004), leaf-litter addition (Xiong & Nilsson 1999), seed limitation (Clark et al 2007) and seed feeders (Morris et al 2007); similar to those observed in meta-analyses of aboveground herbivores, total herbivores, viruses, leaf chewers, root feeders (Morris et al 2007) and soil warming (Rustad et al 2001); and smaller than those observed in meta-analyses of competitors, plant diversity (Levine et al 2004), belowground herbivores, pathogens and nematodes (Morris et al 2007)
We conclude that PSFs are a strong mechanism of plant coexistence and the maintenance of diversity, especially in grassland systems, because PSFs demonstrated medium to large, negative effect sizes
Summary
In the past 5 years, there has been a rapid increase in theoretical and experimental plant–soil feedback (PSF) research. This research has suggested that PSFs are an under-explored factor that can determine plant abundance, persistence, invasion and succession (Bever 1994, 2003; Callaway et al 2004b; Ehrenfeld 2005; Kardol et al 2007). This field of study examines how plants, through root exudation, root deposition and susceptibility to enemies and symbionts, change the soil and whether these changes increase or decrease subsequent plant growth.
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