The role of plant-soil feedback in long-term species coexistence cannot be predicted from its effects on plant performance

We investigated the role of plant-soil feedback (PSF) in intra- and interspecific competition, using two co-occurring dry grassland species as models. A two-phase PSF experiment was used. In the first phase, soil was conditioned by the two plant species. In the second, we assessed the effect of soil conditioning, competition and drought stress on seedling establishment, plant’s growth in the first and second vegetation season and fruit production. We also estimated effects of different treatments on overall populations growth rate of the species and predicted their potential coexistence. Here, we provide data on seedling establishment and plant growth in the second (feedback) phase. For more details about data collection and processing, please refer to the Method section of the publication (Dostálek et al. 2022, Annals of Botany).