Data from: Widely naturalized species are not more promiscuous in the use of different nitrogen forms, but benefit more from inorganic nitrogen

Nitrogen (N) has been considered a crucial factor influencing invasion
success. Many studies have assessed responses of alien plants to different
N availabilities. However, in natural soils, N comes in different forms.
Few studies have explored yet whether responses of alien species to
different N forms are related to their naturalization success
globally.  We selected 22 common herbaceous species native to
Germany that have all become naturalized elsewhere in the world. We grew
them under six different N conditions that differed in the availability or
form of N, and assessed their growth performance. We found that neither
biomass production nor promiscuity to different N forms was related to
naturalization success of the species. However, the biomass response to
inorganic N, relative to organic N, was stronger for the widely
naturalized species than for the less widely naturalized ones. Our
comparative multi-species study shows that although the widely naturalized
species were not more promiscuous than the less widely naturalized
species, they took more advantage of the inorganic-N forms. This indicates
that naturalization success might be partly driven by a species’ ability
to take advantage of increased inorganic N levels.