All native microbial amendments are not equal: One location outperformed all others in a test of coastal dune amendments

Microbial amendments can improve ecological restorations by increasing plant performance and decreasing soil erosion. Whole-soil amendments collected from native ecosystems, in particular, have been shown to produce desirable outcomes; however, it is unclear if all native soil amendments produce equally positive effects. Instead, it is likely that donor locations differ in their soil microbial communities, which may change their efficacy for restoration.We tested whether soil amendments sourced from eleven sites across the Texas Gulf Coast differed in their effects on aboveground and belowground responses, which could help predict how these amendments would influence dune restorations. The amendments were tested by growing a community of five native plant species in live or sterilized soil amendments collected from eleven sites. At the end of the experiment, we measured above- and below-ground biomass for each plant species, the density of AM fungal extra-radical hyphae (ERH) in the soil, and the colonization of one plant species' roots (Panicum amarum's roots) by AM fungal hyphae, vesicles, and arbuscules. Characteristics of each soil collection site -- including soil nutrients, plant community characteristics, and the amount of extra-radical hyphae from arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi in the field collected soil -- were collected and used to assess which characteristics may predict high performing soil amendments. The dataset includes both site characteristics and data from the experiment.微生物改良剂可通过提升植物生长性能、降低土壤侵蚀，助力生态修复。其中，从原生生态系统中采集的全土改良剂已被证实可产生理想修复效果；但目前尚不清楚是否所有原生土壤改良剂均能产生同等积极的修复效果。反之，不同供体采样点的土壤微生物群落组成存在差异，这可能会影响其修复效能。 本研究以德克萨斯湾沿岸11个采样点的土壤改良剂为研究对象，探究其对植物地上与地下生理响应的影响差异，以期预测这些改良剂对沙丘修复的调控效果。实验通过在上述11个采样点采集的活性或灭菌土壤改良剂中，定植由5种原生植物构成的群落，对各改良剂的效果进行评估。实验结束后，我们测定了每种植物的地上与地下生物量、土壤中丛枝菌根真菌（arbuscular mycorrhizal, AM）根外菌丝（extra-radical hyphae, ERH）的密度，以及单一植物种（Panicum amarum）根系被AM真菌菌丝、泡囊与丛枝定殖的情况。 本研究还收集了各土壤采样点的相关特征数据，包括土壤养分、植物群落特征，以及野外采集土壤中AM真菌根外菌丝的含量，以此筛选可预测高性能土壤改良剂的特征指标。本数据集同时包含采样点特征数据与实验测得数据。