TY - JOUR
T1 - Soil microbiomes underlie population persistence of an endangered plant species
AU - David, Aaron S.
AU - Quintana-Ascencio, Pedro F.
AU - Menges, Eric S.
AU - Thapa-Magar, Khum B.
AU - Afkhami, Michelle E.
AU - Searcy, Christopher A.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank numerous undergraduate researchers and interns for data-collection assistance, three anonymous reviewers and editors Jennifer Lau and Alice A. Winn for comments on the manuscript, Archbold Biological Station for research facilities, the National Science Foundation (DEB1347843, DEB0812717, DEB0233899, DEB9815370) for funding to P.F.Q.-A. and E.S.M., and the University of Miami for funding to M.E.A. and C.A.S. and a Provost Research Award to M.E.A. Research was conducted in accordance with all federal and state laws.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.
Copyright:
Copyright 2019 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2019/10/1
Y1 - 2019/10/1
N2 - Microbiomes can dramatically alter individual plant performance, yet how these effects influence higher-order processes is not well resolved. In particular, little is known about how microbiome effects on individual plants alter plant population dynamics, a question critical to imperiled species conservation. Here we integrate bioassays, multidecadal demographic data, and integral projection modeling to determine how the presence of the natural soil microbiome underlies plant population dynamics. Simulations indicated that the presence of soil microbiomes boosted population growth rates (l) of the endangered Hypericum cumulicola by 13% on average, the difference between population growth versus decline in 76% of patches. The greatest benefit (47% increase in l) occurredinlow-nutrient, high-elevation habitats, suggesting that the soil microbiome may help expand H. cumulicola’s distribution to include these stressful habitats. Our results demonstrate that soil microbiomes can significantly affect plant population growth and persistence and support the incorporation of soil microbiomes into conservation planning.
AB - Microbiomes can dramatically alter individual plant performance, yet how these effects influence higher-order processes is not well resolved. In particular, little is known about how microbiome effects on individual plants alter plant population dynamics, a question critical to imperiled species conservation. Here we integrate bioassays, multidecadal demographic data, and integral projection modeling to determine how the presence of the natural soil microbiome underlies plant population dynamics. Simulations indicated that the presence of soil microbiomes boosted population growth rates (l) of the endangered Hypericum cumulicola by 13% on average, the difference between population growth versus decline in 76% of patches. The greatest benefit (47% increase in l) occurredinlow-nutrient, high-elevation habitats, suggesting that the soil microbiome may help expand H. cumulicola’s distribution to include these stressful habitats. Our results demonstrate that soil microbiomes can significantly affect plant population growth and persistence and support the incorporation of soil microbiomes into conservation planning.
KW - Demography
KW - Endangered species
KW - Florida rosemary scrub
KW - Hypericum cumulicola
KW - Integral projection modeling
KW - Plant-microbe interactions
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U2 - 10.1086/704684
DO - 10.1086/704684
M3 - Comment/debate
C2 - 31490729
AN - SCOPUS:85066504972
VL - 194
SP - 488
EP - 494
JO - American Naturalist
JF - American Naturalist
SN - 0003-0147
IS - 4
ER -