Demographic data from long-term symbiont removal experiments with grasses and Epichloë fungal endophytes

This project was designed to understand the demographic effects of
vertically transmitted fungal endophytes (Epichloë spp.) on their
grass hosts. The experiment includes seven host-symbiont taxonomic
pairs: Agrostis perennans - E. amarillans, Elymus villosus - E.
elymi, Elymus virginicus - E. elymi or EviTG-1, Festuca
subverticillata - E. starrii, Poa alsodes - E. alsodes, Poa
sylvestris - E. PsyTG-1, Schedonorus arundinaceus - E.
coenophiala . Experimental plots were established at the
Indiana University Lilly-Dickey Woods Research and Teaching Preserve
in south-central Indiana, USA in 2007. For each species, 5-10 plots
were planted with naturally symbiotic (S+) hosts, and 5-10 plots
were plated with hosts that were disinfected of fungal endophytes by
heat treatment (S-). Over 15 years (2007-2022) we collected
demographic data on the survival, growth, reproduction, and
recruitment of all plants in all plots. Beginning in 2018 we also
collected data on the locations of all plants in every plot.