Home-field Advantage Research Articles

Home-based microbial solution to boost crop growth in low-fertility soil.

Soil microbial inoculants are expected to boost crop productivity under climate change and soil degradation. However, the efficiency of native vs commercialized microbial inoculants in soils with different fertility and impacts on resident microbial communities remain unclear. We investigated the differential plant growth responses to native synthetic microbial community (SynCom) and commercial plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). We quantified the microbial colonization and dynamic of niche structure to emphasize the home-field advantages for native microbial inoculants. A native SynCom of 21 bacterial strains, originating from three typical agricultural soils, conferred a special advantage in promotingmaize growth under low-fertility conditions. The root : shoot ratio of fresh weight increased by 78-121% with SynCom but only 23-86% with PGPRs. This phenotype correlated with the potential robust colonization of SynCom and positive interactions with the resident community. Niche breadth analysis revealed that SynCom inoculation induced a neutral disturbance to the niche structure. However, even PGPRs failed to colonize the natural soil, they decreased niche breadth and increased niche overlap by 59.2-62.4%, exacerbating competition. These results suggest that the home-field advantage of native microbes may serve as a basis for engineering crop microbiomes to support food production in widely distributed poor soils.

Rapid differentiation of soil and root microbiomes in response to plant composition and biodiversity in the field

Research suggests that microbiomes play a major role in structuring plant communities and influencing ecosystem processes, however, the relative roles and strength of change of microbial components have not been identified. We measured the response of fungal, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF), bacteria, and oomycete composition 4 months after planting of field plots that varied in plant composition and diversity. Plots were planted using 18 prairie plant species from three plant families (Poaceae, Fabaceae, and Asteraceae) in monoculture, 2, 3, or 6 species richness mixtures and either species within multiple families or one family. Soil cores were collected and homogenized per plot and DNA were extracted from soil and roots of each plot. We found that all microbial groups responded to the planting design, indicating rapid microbiome response to plant composition. Fungal pathogen communities were strongly affected by plant diversity. We identified OTUs from genera of putatively pathogenic fungi that increased with plant family, indicating likely pathogen specificity. Bacteria were strongly differentiated by plant family in roots but not soil. Fungal pathogen diversity increased with planted species richness, while oomycete diversity, as well as bacterial diversity in roots, decreased. AMF differentiation in roots was detected with individual plant species, but not plant family or richness. Fungal saprotroph composition differentiated between plant family composition in plots, providing evidence for decomposer home-field advantage. The observed patterns are consistent with rapid microbiome differentiation with plant composition, which could generate rapid feedbacks on plant growth in the field, thereby potentially influencing plant community structure, and influence ecosystem processes. These findings highlight the importance of native microbial inoculation in restoration.

Home-field advantage in litter decomposition: A critical review from a microbial perspective.

Litter decomposition is a key component of biogeochemical recycling. It is highly sensitive to changes in microbial community assembly. An interesting phenomenon in litter decomposition is the home-field advantage (HFA), where litter decomposes faster in native locations than in foreign sites. However, the role of the HFA in litter decomposition remains controversial. This review examines current evidence relating to the HFA using the leaf economics spectrum theory and the Lotka-Volterra niche competition model and explains its influence on the microbial assembly process. Here, it is proposed that the microbial community assembly could help to explain the HFA at spatiotemporal scales. This review improves understanding of the role of the succession of microbial communities in HFA litter decomposition and in the elemental cycle of forest systems.

Local Candidate Roots and Electoral Advantages in US State Legislatures

AbstractA growing literature has revealed a notable electoral advantage for congressional and gubernatorial candidates with deep local roots in their home districts or states. However, there is a dearth of research on the presence and impact of local roots in state legislative races. In this paper, we close that gap by demonstrating the consistent and significant electoral impacts that state legislators’ local roots have on their reelection efforts. We use data capturing a representative cross-section of state legislative incumbents (N = ~5,000) and calculate a novel index measuring the depth of their local roots modeled after Hunt’s (2022, Home Field Advantage: Roots, Reelection, and Representation in the Modern Congress) measure for the US House. We present evidence that state legislators with deep local roots in the districts they represent run unopposed in their general elections nearly twice as often as incumbents with no such roots. Of those who do attract challengers in their reelection efforts, deeply rooted incumbents enjoy an average of three extra percentage points of vote share. Our results have important implications for candidate emergence in state legislative elections during a time when so many are uncontested. They also demonstrate the limits of electoral nationalization for understanding state politics.

Soil nutrient dissimilarity and litter nutrient limitation as major drivers of home field advantage in riparian tropical forests

AbstractDecomposition is a key process driving carbon and nutrient cycling in ecosystems worldwide. The home field advantage effect (HFA) has been found to accelerate decomposition rates when litter originates from “home” when compared to other (“away”) sites. It is still poorly known how HFA plays out in tropical, riparian forests, particularly in forests under restoration. We carried out three independent reciprocal litter transplant experiments to test how litter quality, soil nutrient concentrations, and successional stage (age) influenced HFA in tropical riparian forests. These experimental areas formed a wide gradient of soil and litter nutrients, which we used to evaluate the more general hypothesis that HFA varies with dissimilarity in soil nutrients and litter quality. We found that HFA increased with soil nutrient dissimilarity, suggesting that litter translocation uncouples relationships between decomposers and litter characteristics; and with litter N:P, indicating P limitation in this system. We also found negative HFA effects at a site under restoration that presented low decomposer ability, suggesting that forest restoration does not necessarily recover decomposer communities and nutrient cycling. Within each of the independent experiments, the occurrence of HFA effects was limited and their magnitude was not related to forest age, nor soil and litter quality. Our results imply that HFA effects in tropical ecosystems are influenced by litter nutrient limitation and soil nutrient dissimilarity between home and away sites, but to further disentangle major HFA drivers in tropical areas, a gradient of dissimilarity between litter and soil properties must be implemented in future experimental designs.Abstract in Portuguese is available with online material.

Maize/peanut intercropping has greater synergistic effects and home-field advantages than maize/soybean on straw decomposition.

The decomposition of plant litter mass is responsible for substantial carbon fluxes and remains a key process regulating nutrient cycling in natural and managed ecosystems. Litter decomposition has been addressed in agricultural monoculture systems, but not in intercropping systems, which produce species-diverse litter mass mixtures. The aim here is to quantify how straw type, the soil environment and their combined effects may influence straw decomposition in widely practiced maize/legume intercropping systems. Three decomposition experiments were conducted over 341 days within a long-term intercropping field experiment which included two nitrogen (N) addition levels (i.e. no-N and N-addition) and five cropping systems (maize, soybean and peanut monocultures and maize/soybean and maize/peanut intercropping). Experiment I was used to quantify litter quality effects on decomposition; five types of straw (maize, soybean, peanut, maize-soybean and maize-peanut) from two N treatments decomposed in the same maize plot. Experiment II addressed soil environment effects on root decomposition; soybean straw decomposed in different plots (five cropping systems and two N levels). Experiment III addressed 'home' decomposition effects whereby litter mass (straw) was remained to decompose in the plot of origin. The contribution of litter and soil effects to the home-field advantages was compared between experiment III ('home' plot) and I-II ('away' plot). Straw type affected litter mass loss in the same soil environment (experiment I) and the mass loss values of maize, soybean, peanut, maize-soybean, and maize-peanut straw were 59, 77, 87, 76, and 78%, respectively. Straw type also affected decomposition in the 'home' plot environment (experiment III), with mass loss values of maize, soybean, peanut, maize-soybean and maize-peanut straw of 66, 74, 80, 72, and 76%, respectively. Cropping system did not affect the mass loss of soybean straw (experiment II). Nitrogen-addition significantly increased straw mass loss in experiment III. Decomposition of maize-peanut straw mixtures was enhanced more by 'home-field advantage' effects than that of maize-soybean straw mixtures. There was a synergistic mixing effect of maize-peanut and maize-soybean straw mixture decomposition in both 'home' (experiment III) and 'away' plots (experiment I). Maize-peanut showed greater synergistic effects than maize-soybean in straw mixture decomposition in their 'home' plot (experiment III). These findings are discussed in terms of their important implications for the management of species-diverse straw in food-production intercropping systems.

No home‐field advantage in litter decomposition from the desert to temperate forest

Abstract Litter decomposition rates are determined by the interplay of climate, decomposer organisms and litter quality. It has been suggested that the decomposer community may be locally adapted to litter quality, providing a home‐field advantage (HFA) resulting in accelerated decomposition of local compared to non‐local litter, after accounting for decomposition differences due to litter quality and the functional capacity of microorganisms. Although widely tested in forests, this hypothesis remains controversial and lacks support of its generality across climates. We therefore tested the HFA hypothesis for litter decomposition in four contrasting ecosystems along an extensive climatic gradient in Chile, using a translocation experiment involving litter from 20 species. In addition to comparing mass loss, we adopted a novel way to disentangle decomposer effects from climate effects, based on loss rates of elements that are actively released from the litter by decomposers during its breakdown versus elements that are simply leached by precipitation. We used the ratios of nitrogen and potassium losses (N/K loss) and phosphorus and potassium losses (P/K loss) to unravel the relative role of microbial breakdown (N and P loss) versus physical leaching (K loss) along the climate gradient. Thus, at each site, we tested whether litter mass loss, N/K loss and P/K loss presented an additional loss due to a HFA for local compared to non‐local litter. Across a wide range of environments and litter types, our findings unequivocally contradicted the HFA hypothesis. We observed no significantly positive HFA along the gradient; however, litter quality and the general ability of the decomposer community influenced litter decomposition much more strongly than origin or location of the litter. Our study questions the applicability of the HFA for litter decomposition and calls for more studies that include a large range of climatic conditions to understand the context‐dependency of HFA. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Home-Field Advantage: Why Host-Specificity is Important for Therapeutic Microbial Engraftment

Home-Field Advantage: Why Host-Specificity is Important for Therapeutic Microbial Engraftment

Research progress on home-field advantage of leaf litter decomposition

Research progress on home-field advantage of leaf litter decomposition

FIFA ranking: Evaluation and path forward

In this work, we study the ranking algorithm used by Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA); we analyze the parameters that it currently uses, show the formal probabilistic model from which it can be derived, and optimize the latter. In particular, analyzing games since the introduction of the algorithm in 2018, we conclude that game’s “importance” (defined by FIFA and used by the algorithm) is counterproductive from the point of view of the predictive capacity of the algorithm. We also postulate that the algorithm should be rooted in the formal modeling principle, where the Davidson model proposed in 1970 seems to be an excellent candidate, preserving the form of the algorithm currently used. The results indicate that the predictive capacity of the algorithm is considerably improved by using the home-field advantage (HFA), as well as the explicit model for the draws in the game. Moderate but notable improvement may be achieved by introducing the weighting of the results with the goal differential, which, although not rooted in a formal modeling principle, is compatible with the current algorithm and can be tuned to the characteristics of the football competition.

Prediction of Future NBA Games’ Point Difference: A Statistical Modeling Approach

Nowadays, the popularity of the NBA along with the penetration of gambling ideas is rising all around the world. More and more fans prefer to bet on sports gambling. People want to predict the final score difference for each individual game. In addition, there are many either superficial or underlying factors that will affect the game’s result. The central claim of this article is to establish a reliable model that could predict each game’s result by extracting and analyzing previous games’ outcomes. The major analysis is done by modeling and exploratory data analysis, and is composed of several graphical methods. For the modeling part, ideally the model could predict the games’ score differences by analyzing previous dozens of games’ data sets. The database consists of four seasons 2013-2017 on Goldsheet website to explore more analysis. Then step by step checking and demonstrating to prove the feasibility and precision of the model. The model will collect and analyze the data information, like teams, rebounds, assists, turnovers, three points, free throws, blocks, and injury data. Considering the transfer between teams and other changes, the model will predict the future game result in each season independently by using each team’s previous game result in that season. This article indicates the idea of linear regression model to find the best fit by comparing the correlation strength of each variable, which include the home-field advantage, teams’ technical statistics, and injury data, to the result of a game. The model final outcomes implies that the game’s result has the most correlation with the home-field advantage and player injury; however, team’s basic technical statistics, included the rebounds, blocks, turnovers, free throws, three points, and assists, have low correlation coefficient with the result to demonstrate that they are not significant to a game’s result.

Hard to predict! No clear effects of home-field advantage on leaf litter decomposition in tropical heath vegetation

AbstractThe home-field advantage (HFA) hypothesis establishes that plant litter decomposes faster at ‘home’ sites than in ‘away’ sites due to more specialized decomposers acting at home sites. This hypothesis has predominantly been tested through ‘yes or no’ transplanting experiments, where the litter decomposition of a focal species is quantified near and away from their conspecifics. Herein, we evaluated the occurrence and magnitude of home-field effects on the leaf litter decomposition of Myrcia ramuliflora (O.Berg) N. Silveira (Myrtaceae) along a natural gradient of conspecific litterfall input and also if home-field effects are affected by litter and soil traits. Litter decomposition of M. ramuliflora was assessed through litterbags placed in 39 plots in a tropical heath vegetation over a period of 12 months. We also characterized abiotic factors, litter layer traits, and litter diversity. Our results indicated the occurrence of positive (i.e. Home-field advantage) and negative (i.e. Home-field disadvantage) effects in more than half of the plots. Positive and negative effects occurred in a similar frequency and magnitude. Among all predictors tested, only the community weighted mean C/N ratio of the litterfall input was associated with home-field effects. Our results reinforce the lack of generality for home-field effects found in the literature and thus challenge the understanding of litter-decomposer interaction in tropical ecosystems.

Home-field advantage and ability alter labile and recalcitrant litter carbon decomposition in an alpine forest ecotone

Home-field advantage and ability alter labile and recalcitrant litter carbon decomposition in an alpine forest ecotone

The home-field advantage of litter decomposition in lake wetlands and the community characteristics of bacterial and eukaryotic decomposers

The home-field advantage of litter decomposition in lake wetlands and the community characteristics of bacterial and eukaryotic decomposers

Amplified Drought Alters Leaf Litter Metabolome, Slows Down Litter Decomposition, and Modifies Home Field (Dis)Advantage in Three Mediterranean Forests.

In Mediterranean ecosystems, the projected rainfall reduction of up to 30% may alter plant–soil interactions, particularly litter decomposition and Home Field Advantage (HFA). We set up a litter transplant experiment in the three main forests encountered in the northern part of the Medi-terranean Basin (dominated by either Quercus ilex, Quercus pubescens, or Pinus halepensis) equipped with a rain exclusion device, allowing an increase in drought either throughout the year or concentrated in spring and summer. Senescent leaves and needles were collected under two precipitation treatments (natural and amplified drought plots) at their “home” forest and were left to decompose in the forest of origin and in other forests under both drought conditions. MS-based metabolomic analysis of litter extracts combined with multivariate data analysis enabled us to detect modifications in the composition of litter specialized metabolites, following amplified drought treatment. Amplified drought altered litter quality and metabolomes, directly slowed down litter decomposition, and induced a loss of home field (dis)advantage. No indirect effect mediated by a change in litter quality on decomposition was observed. These results may suggest major alterations of plant–soil interactions in Mediterranean forests under amplified drought conditions.

What does it take to win or lose a soccer game? A machine learning approach to understand the impact of game and team statistics

This study investigates what it takes to win a soccer game in three major soccer leagues, (i) English Premier League (EPL), (ii) Spain’s La Liga and (iii) Major League Soccer (MLS) at the USA. To do so, a set of supervised machine learning models were trained and used to predict the outcome of soccer games and investigate the importance of predictors (features) contributing to the outcome. A total of 91 game and team related features (for both home and away teams, and the differences between them) that cover match statistics, attempt types, card situations, pass types and squad information were taken into consideration. The best prediction performance was achieved by a random forest (RF) model with a classification accuracy of 86.31% of the combined dataset. Relative importance percentages of the game and/or team features for each league are investigated to identify the most crucial factors of the winning/losing teams. Furthermore, each league’s characteristics are discussed and compared through the lenses formed by the intuitive experiment results. For instance, the home field advantage in the MLS games has been shown to be two times more important than this advantage in the La Liga and EPL games.

Comparison of leaf litter decomposition and microbial decomposer communities in fringe and riverine mangroves in French Guiana

Mangroves are highly productive and changing forests located in the intertidal zone of tropical regions. Leaf litter decomposition represents a substantial part of their carbon sink abilities. Little is known about the potential effect of climate change on this key process of ecosystem functioning. This study compared leaf litter microbial decay between fringe and riverine Avicennia germinans stands. A direct and reciprocal transplant experiment using litterbags was setup in French Guiana to test 3 hypotheses: (i) the activities and abundance of microbial decomposers are lowest in the fringe mangroves due to exposure to saline water and tidal immersion; (ii) for these reasons, litter decomposes faster in riverine stands; and (iii) according to the home-field advantage hypothesis, litter decomposes more rapidly in the environment from which it originates. Remaining litter masses, abundance of litter microbial community (phospholipid fatty acid signatures (PLFA)), and their functional capability (enzyme activities and Biolog) were assessed. Litter directly transplanted in riverine stands showed higher enzymatic activity (+ 77%), catabolic diversity (+ 10%), and microbial biomass (+ 60%) than litter transplanted directly in fringe stands. In contrast, both riverine and fringe derived litter showed faster decay at the fringe (14% mass loss) than riverine site (4% mass loss) between 30 and 45 days. Here, environmental conditions associated with different distances from the sea such as salinity and inundation regimes, rather than microbial features are suggested as main factors affecting decomposition process. Expected sea level rise in the coastal Guianas may therefore modify the mangroves productivity in the coming decades.

Habitat Significantly Affect CWD Decomposition but No Home-Field Advantage of the Decomposition Found in a Subtropical Forest, China

The home-field advantage (HFA) effect has been reported to occur in coarse woody debris (CWD) and litter. It is thought that the HFA effect may be due to the specialization of decomposers in their original habitats. However, the relative contribution of microorganisms, particularly fungi and bacteria, to deadwood decomposition is unclear because of differences in their functional at-tributes and carbon requirements, and the microorganisms that drive the HFA effect of deadwood are also unclear. Here, we analysed a dataset of microbial PLFA and substrate properties collected from the soil and CWD of two subtropical trees, Cryptomeria japonica and Platycarya strobilacea, from forests dominated by one or the other of the two species, with both species present in the forests. Our results showed that habitat and tree types all significantly affected CWD respiration rates, the CWD respiration rates were significantly higher in the deciduous broadleaf forests (DBF) than in the coniferous forest (CF) regardless of tree types, but no a large HFA of CWD decomposition found (HFA index was 4.75). Most biomarkers indicated bacteria and fungi were more abundant in the DBF than in the CF, and the concentration of microbial PLFAs was higher in Platycarya strobilacea than in Cryptomeria japonica. In addition, the relative abundance of fungi and soil B/F were remarkably positively correlated with CWD respiration, indicating that fungi may be the primary decomposers of CWD. In conclusion, our work highlights the importance of interactions between the three primary drivers (environment, substrate quality and microbes) on CWD decomposition.

Effect of N deposition on the home-field advantage of wood decomposition in a subtropical forest

Nitrogen (N) can influence the functions of forest ecosystems by altering the abundance and activity of microbial and faunal communities. The impact of N deposition on the home-field advantage (HFA) effect of dead wood decomposition remains unclear. In this study, a 24-month field reciprocal wood translocation experiment was conducted with three levels of N deposition (control (N0), 60 (N1) and 120 (N2) kg N ha−1 yr−1) in both Platycarya strobilacea (PL) forest and Cryptomeria japonica (CR) forest in subtropical China, where anthropogenic N deposition is among the highest in the world. The influence of soil biota groups on the HFA effect was partitioned using different sizes of mesh bags. We found that N1 facilitated wood decomposition by enhancing wood faunal and microbial community abundance and soil extracellular enzyme activity. However, N2 promoted wood decomposition in coarse-mesh bags by attracting more fauna and in fine-mesh bags by increasing fungal growth. In the control (CK) treatments, we found a 4.55-fold greater HFA effect in fine-mesh bags than in coarse-mesh bags. On average, a 6.6- and 4.8-fold greater HFA effect was observed with N1 treatment than with N2 and control treatments, respectively, and these differences were associated with greater differences in microbial and faunal communities between home and away fields. In summary, our results indicated that low levels of anthropogenic N enrichment could increase the HFA effect on wood decomposition through the modification of microbial and faunal communities in the wood decomposition process and thereby influence C sequestration, with peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality reached in the next few decades in the forests of subtropical regions.

Do Fans Impact Sports Outcomes? A COVID-19 Natural Experiment∗.

This paper studies the effect of fan attendance on home field advantage in top European soccer leagues. We exploit exogenous variation in the level of fan attendance driven by COVID-19 mitigation policies and find that the home field advantage, as measured by home minus away (expected) goals, is reduced by more than 50% across the English Premier League, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, and Spanish La Liga. This leads to a decrease in probability for a home win, indicating that these goals are pivotal with respect to match outcomes.