Current and legacy effects of neighborhood communities on plant growth and aboveground herbivory

In a long-term grassland experiment (the experimental design can be found in van Der Putten et al., 2000; Bezemer et al., 2006 and Veen et al., 2018 ), we examined the relative importance of the current and legacy above- and belowground effects of plant communities on the growth and aboveground herbivore damage on a focal plant, Leucanthemum vulgare. Focal plants were planted into tubes with soil collected from different plant communities and placed back into these plant communities. Weekly, plant growth and damage were recorded and after 12 weeks plant biomass was measured. Sheet1: vegetation and soil characteristics of 15 plots in 2003; Sheet 2: Plant community composition data of 15 plots in 2003; Sheet 3: The focal plant dry biomass (shoot, root, and total dry mass). Sheet 4: Aboveground herbivory of focal plants.