Invasional meltdown in plants: The reduction of litter allelochemical promoted positive alien biotic interactions

One core focus of ecology is how the differences in community invasion resistance are established. An invasional meltdown suggests that the establishment of one alien invader might promote further invasions through soil microbes. However, whether a similar effect might be mediated by plant litter and whether such a situation might depend on environmental factors condition is still poorly understood. We grew Phytolacca americana as target plants in pot-mesocosms under two interaction species origin (alien vs native). In each species origin, we produced 36 combinations of two litter treatments, two soil microbe treatments, three soil phosphorus levels, and three P. americana density treatments. We found that although microbial communities differed by species origin, microbial inoculation had no effect on P. americana growth. Litter origin did affect plant performance;P. americana growth was greater under alien litter treatment. This phenomenon may come from t..., , , # Invasional meltdown in plants: The reduction of litter allelochemical promoted positive alien biotic interactions

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.2fqz612vd](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.2fqz612vd)

## Description of the data and file structure

**Data Collection Date(s)**

* Soil and litter collection: April – May 2021
* Greenhouse experiment: May – September 2021

**Geographic location of data collection**

* **Sample collection site:**​ Kunyu Mountain National Nature Reserve, Shandong Province, China (Latitude: 37.10–37.19° N, Longitude: 121.37–121.48° E)
* **Experiment execution site:**​ Greenhouse at Ludong University, Yantai, Shandong Province, China.

**Experimental Design Overview**

This dataset is derived from a full-factorial greenhouse experiment designed to investigate the belowground mechanisms (soil microbes and plant litter) driving the potential invasional meltdown involving *Phytolacca americana*L. The experiment systematically manipulated five factors:

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