Data for: Soil microbes alter competition between native and invasive plants

Invasive plants can alter soil microbial communities and generate positive plant-soil feedbacks that facilitate their performance, but the magnitude and direction of feedbacks may change with novel conditions under climate change. We assessed how potential soil legacy effects of plant invasion and simulated drought influenced plant performance and competition in the longleaf pine ecosystem.

We collected soil from a four-year factorial invasion (cogongrass, Imperata cylindrica) by drought (simulated with rainout shelters) field experiment and used it as live or sterilized soil inoculum in a greenhouse experiment that included two native foundation species, longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) and wiregrass (Aristida stricta), and cogongrass, grown individually or in competition.

There was no evidence of biotic soil legacy effects of invasion or drought for any plant species, but microbes played a significant role in competition. When plants were grown alone, the invader had 12% greater ...