uid=HFR,o=lter,dc=ecoinformatics,dc=org
all
public
read
doi:10.6073/pasta/bb0f494941a34e0726af21955f080cef
Soil Microbial Community Effects on Quercus Rubra Seedling Survival at Harvard Forest 2016-2017
Fiona
Jevon
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3586-7566
Jaclyn
Matthes
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8999-8062
Researcher
2023
English
Feedbacks between plants and their soil microbial communities often drive negative density dependence in tropical forests, but their importance for tree demographics in temperate forests remains unclear. Additionally, the relative contribution of intraspecific seedling competition and soil pathogens to density-dependent patterns has rarely been assessed. We assessed how the soil microbial community influenced Quercus rubra seedling survival by growing seedlings in a greenhouse inoculated with soil collected from beneath conspecific and heterospecific mature trees. We found that seedlings grown with soil from beneath conspecific adults had a higher mortality rate than seedlings grown with soil from beneath heterospecific adults; therefore adult plant-soil feedbacks decrease seedling survival in Q. rubra.
forest dynamics
microbes
oak
seedlings
soil
LTER controlled vocabulary
primary production
populations
LTER core area
Harvard Forest
HFR
LTER
USA
HFR default
This dataset is released to the public under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 (No Rights Reserved). Please keep the dataset creators informed of any plans to use the dataset. Consultation with the original investigators is strongly encouraged. Publications and data products that make use of the dataset should include proper acknowledgement.
Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal
https://spdx.org/licenses/CC0-1.0.html
CC0-1.0
https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf333
Prospect Hill Tract (Harvard Forest). Coordinates based on WGS84 datum.
-72.18
-72.18
+42.54
+42.54
340
368
meter
2016
2017
genus
Quercus
species
rubra
complete
Information Manager
Harvard Forest
324 North Main Street
Petersham
MA
01366
USA
(978) 724-3302
hf-im@lists.fas.harvard.edu
Harvard Forest
324 North Main Street
Petersham
MA
01366
USA
(978) 724-3302
(978) 724-3595
https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu
We collected more than 500 acorns from the Prospect Hill tract of Harvard Forest in November of 2016. We removed non-viable acorns and incubated the remaining acorns at 4 °C for 4.5 months. We re-tested the acorns for viability and removed the non-viable ones. Acorns were weighed and placed in individual containers with a wet paper towel and placed in a growth chamber (Percival Scientific, Inc. Model I-35VL) at 20 °C using 12hr light/dark cycles to germinate. After 2 weeks, they were surface-sterilized with a 2% bleach solution, rinsed with deionized water, and planted.
One week prior to planting, we collected fresh soil from the ForestGEO plot beneath one large adult each of Q. rubra, Betula lenta, T. canadensis, Pinus strobus, and Fagus grandifolia. The four heterospecifics were chosen because they are the most common ectomycorrhizal trees that co-occur with Q. rubra in this area. The soil included significant root and rhizosphere matter as it was collected from the top 5 cm of the Oa/A horizon. To ensure that microbial associates from the rhizosphere were included in the treatments, the soil was not sieved but cut into approximately small pieces (~ 2 cm3) that were intermixed and gently homogenized. Half the soil was sterilized by autoclaving (Consolidated Stills and Sterilizers, Model 6030) for 90 minutes on a gravity cycle at 121°C. Successfully germinated acorns were planted either alone or in sets of three in pots with 250 grams of a sterile 2:1 mixture of peat moss and sand, combined with 25 grams of either sterilized or unsterilized soil from beneath one of the five mature tree species. We placed the pots with treatments intermixed on a wide table in the center of a greenhouse and watered them twice weekly. Once a week, we haphazardly rearranged the pots around the bench to minimize possible microclimate effects. After 20 weeks, we scored the seedlings as either alive or dead.
Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research
Harvard Forest
324 North Main Street
Petersham
MA
01366
USA
(978) 724-3302
(978) 724-3595
https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu
https://ror.org/059cpzx98
pointOfContact
The Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program examines ecological dynamics in the New England region resulting from natural disturbances, environmental change, and human impacts.
National Science Foundation LTER grants: DEB-8811764, DEB-9411975, DEB-0080592, DEB-0620443, DEB-1237491, DEB-1832210.
hf333-01-qr-gh-survival.csv
seedling survival
hf333-01-qr-gh-survival.csv
8870
dac9768ebf4bf9e95286b0ad590e536f
1
\r\n
column
,
https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p33/hf333/hf333-01-qr-gh-survival.csv
soil
soil type
Fresh
fresh
Sterilized
sterilized
NA
missing value
soil.origin
species of adult tree from which the soil innocula was
collected
AB
Fagus grandifolia
BB
Betula lenta
H
Tsuga canadensis
RO
Quercus rubra
WP
Pinus strobus
NA
missing value
acorns.number
number of acorns per pot (1 or 3)
number
1
natural
NA
missing value
rep
pot level replicate
number
1
natural
NA
missing value
acorn.id
unique identifier for each acorn
unique identifier for each acorn
NA
missing value
survival
survival status after 20 weeks
0
dead
1
alive
NA
missing value
380
biodiversity
plot
community
short-term measurement
https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf253