Data from: Soil biota and chemical interactions promote co-existence in co-evolved grassland communities ...

• Main Authors: Semchenko, Marina, Nettan, Siim, Sepp, Anette, Zhang, Qiaoying, Abakumova, Maria, Davison, John, Kalamees, Rein, Lepik, Anu, Püssa, Kersti, Saar, Sirgi, Saarma, Merilin, Thetloff, Marge, Zobel, Kristjan
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2019
• Subjects: Hypericum perforatum; Inula salicina; Carex flacca; 2012-2014; eco-evolutionary dynamics; Pilosella officinarum; Leontodon hispidus; Root exudates; plant community assembly; belowground interactions; Campanula rotundifolia; Festuca ovina; Galium verum; community evolution; grassland restoration; soil microbial interactions
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.5800rk5; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.5800rk5

1. Plant populations can exhibit local adaptation to their abiotic environment, such as climate and soil properties, as well as biotic components such as the chemical signatures of dominant plant species and mutualistic and pathogenic microbial populations. While patterns of local adaptation in individual species are widely recorded, the importance of microevolutionary processes for plant community assembly and function is poorly understood. 2. Here we examined how a history of long-term co-existence, and thus potential for local co-adaptation, influenced the process of plant community assembly. Soil inocula and seeds of eight plant species were collected from three calcareous grasslands with a long history of grazing within a single geographical region. Mesocosm communities were established using local genotypes from a single site or an artificial mixture of genotypes from two different sites. To investigate the role of root exudates and local (“home”) and non-local (“away”) soil biota as mediators of plant ... : Semchenko_et_al_2019_JEcol_dataData were collected over three years from a common garden, mesocosm experiment, maintained in Tartu, Estonia. Pot – pot ID; Community_type – local or mixed plant community; Activated_carbon – with or without activated carbon addition; Inoculation - sterilised or non-sterilised soil inoculum; Population_origin – genotype origin (site A, B or C); Community_composition – origin of plant community (site A, B or C for local communities or AB, AC, CB for mixed communities); Species_ID – species ID; Shoot_mass_Year1_g - individual dry shoot mass at the end of the first growth season; State_Year1 – individual survival at the end of the first growth season; Shoot_mass_Year2_g - individual dry shoot mass at the end of the second growth season; State_Year2 - individual survival at the end of the second growth season; Inoculum_origin – soil inoculum origin (site A, B or C); Inoculum_type – inoculum relationship to plant individual (home or away); Shoot_mass_Year3_g - species dry shoot mass ...