Nitrogen-fixing plants increase soil nitrogen and neighboring plant biomass, but decrease community diversity: A meta-analysis reveals the mediating role of soil texture

Several recent regional studies have cast doubt on the widespread assumption that nitrogen-fixing plants (N-fixers) act as facilitators of neighboring plant communities. We conducted a meta-analysis to synthesize the effects of N-fixers on plant communities and to understand how ecological context moderates these effects. We analyzed studies that assessed paired effects of N-fixers and non-fixers on soil N, neighboring-plant (non-fixer) biomass, and plant community diversity; ecological moderators included climate, soil texture, and N-fixer growth form and invasive status. N-fixers led to higher soil N and neighboring plant biomass, but lower community diversity compared to non-fixers. The effect of N-fixers on neighboring plant biomass was strongly mediated by soil texture; N-fixer invasive status and growth form were also significant mediators of the facilitative effects of N-fixers. N-fixer effects lie on a continuum between facilitation and suppression that is moderated by intrinsic..., , , # Nitrogen-fixing plants increase soil nitrogen and neighboring plant biomass, but decrease community diversity: A meta-analysis reveals the mediating role of soil texture

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4qrfj6qk1](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4qrfj6qk1)

## Description of the data and file structure

This data file was constructed by gathering and extracting data from published scientific papers identified using a rigorous selection process (see manuscript for details on the selection process). The papers included in this data are identified within the primary dataset here, but also in the supplementary file of the manuscript. 

This dataset includes original manuscript information, data extractor, geographical and ecological data, and notation of any treatments or differences in groups, along with the means and error terms for each data point extracted. This is the raw data used for this paper. The 'yi' and 'vi' terms in the dataset are the individual log response ratio (lnRR) and va...