Data from: Soil erodibility differs according to heritable trait variation and nutrient-induced plasticity in the salt marsh engineer Spartina alterniflora

Use of landform engineers for habitat restoration has often resulted in unanticipated outcomes. It is possible that departures from expectation arise because applications do not adequately account for the influence of heritable and non-heritable phenotypic variation on ecosystem attributes. In this study, we performed a common garden greenhouse experiment to determine whether soil shear strength—a characteristic linked to erosion resistance—varies according to heritable and plastic trait expression in Spartina alterniflora grown under contrasting nutrient regimes. We detected heritable variation across a broad spectrum of functional traits, including nutrient uptake. We also found that S. alterniflora exhibited trait-specific differences in nutrient-induced phenotypic plasticity. Heritable trait differences and plasticity together explained approximately 70% of the observed variation in soil shear strength. Soil shear strength increased when plants received more nutrients, but the influence of heritable variation on soil shear strength was equal to or larger than that of nutrient-induced plasticity. These findings illustrate that heritable and non-heritable trait expression can potentially govern the fate of marsh ecosystems, which suggests that consideration should be given to both factors when deploying landform engineers for coastal restoration.

利用地貌构建物种（landform engineers）开展生境修复的实践常出现未预期的结果。出现此类偏离预期的情况，可能是因为相关修复实践未充分考量可遗传与不可遗传的表型变异（phenotypic variation）对生态系统属性的影响。本研究开展了一项同质园温室实验（common garden greenhouse experiment），以探究在不同营养供给条件下生长的互花米草（Spartina alterniflora），其与抗侵蚀性能相关的特征——土壤抗剪强度（soil shear strength）——是否随可遗传与可塑性性状表达发生变化。研究团队在包括养分吸收在内的多种功能性状中检测到了可遗传变异，同时发现互花米草在养分诱导的表型可塑性（phenotypic plasticity）上存在性状特异性差异。可遗传性状差异与表型可塑性共同解释了约70%的土壤抗剪强度观测变异。当植株获取更多养分时，土壤抗剪强度会提升，但可遗传变异对土壤抗剪强度的影响等于甚至大于养分诱导的表型可塑性的影响。本研究结果表明，可遗传与不可遗传的性状表达或可调控盐沼生态系统（marsh ecosystems）的存续状态，这意味着在部署地貌构建物种开展海岸修复工作时，需同时考量这两类因素。