Abstract
Plants affect the soil environment via litter inputs and changes in biotic communities, which feed back to subsequent plant growth. Here we investigated the individual contributions of litter and biotic communities to soil feedback effects, and plant ability to respond to spatial heterogeneity in soil legacy. We tested for localised and systemic responses of Trifolium repens to soil biotic and root litter legacy of seven grassland species by exposing half of a root system to control soil and the other half to specific inoculum or root litter. Soil inoculation triggered a localised reduction in root length while litter locally increased root biomass independent of inoculum or litter species identity. Nodule formation was locally suppressed in response to soil conditioned by another legume ( Vicia cracca) and showed a trend towards systemic reduction in response to conspecific soil. V. cracca litter also caused a systemic response with thinner roots produced in the part of the root system not directly exposed to the litter. Spatial heterogeneity in root litter distribution and soil communities generate distinct local and systemic responses in root morphology and nodulation. These responses can influence plant-mutualist interactions and nutrient cycling, and should be included in plant co-existence models.
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Claims 5
Claim · model-written summary
Soil inoculation locally reduced root length.
- Taxon
- Trifolium repens
Trifolium repense1 - Treatment
- Soil inoculatione0
- Outcome
- root lengthe0
- Direction
- reductione0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Soil inoculation triggered a localised reduction in root length”
e1“Trifolium repens”
Claim · model-written summary
Root litter locally increased root biomass regardless of species identity.
- Taxon
- Trifolium repensTrifolium repense1
- Treatment
- littere0
- Outcome
- root biomasse0
- Direction
- increasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“litter locally increased root biomass independent of inoculum or litter species identity”
e1“Trifolium repens”
Claim · model-written summary
Soil conditioned by Vicia cracca locally suppressed nodule formation.
- Taxon
- Trifolium repensTrifolium repense1
- Treatment
- soil conditioned by another legume ( Vicia cracca)e0
- Interactor
- Vicia cracca
Vicia craccae0other - Outcome
- Nodule formatione0
- Direction
- suppressede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Nodule formation was locally suppressed in response to soil conditioned by another legume ( Vicia cracca)”
e1“Trifolium repens”
Claim · model-written summary
Conspecific soil showed a trend toward systemic reduction in nodule formation.
- Taxon
- Trifolium repensTrifolium repense1
- Treatment
- conspecific soile0
- Outcome
- Nodule formatione0
- Direction
- reductione0
- Qualifier
- trend towards systemice0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Nodule formation was locally suppressed in response to soil conditioned by another legume ( Vicia cracca) and showed a trend towards systemic reduction in response to conspecific soil”
e1“Trifolium repens”
Claim · model-written summary
V. cracca litter induced thinner roots in an unexposed part of the root system.
- Taxon
- Trifolium repensTrifolium repense1
- Treatment
- V. cracca littere0
- Interactor
- V. craccaVicia craccae0other
- Outcome
- rootse0
- Direction
- thinnere0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“V. cracca litter also caused a systemic response with thinner roots produced in the part of the root system not directly exposed to the litter”
e1“Trifolium repens”
The same questions in other papers
inoculation · growth · Trifolium repens (white clover)Results differ
4 papers in the same direction as this paper · 31 in the opposite direction
- positive
- positive
- positive
32 papers more in this group
See all 36 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.