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Updated: Jul 20, 2026
08:16
Experimental Protocol for Manipulating Plant-induced Soil Heterogeneity
Published on: March 13, 2014
Plant-soil feedbacks and invasive spread
Jonathan M Levine1, Elizaveta Pachepsky, Bruce E Kendall
1Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9610, USA. levine@lifesci.ucsb.edu
Ecology Letters
|August 24, 2006
Summary
Plant invaders can alter soil microbes, but these feedbacks rarely influence their spread. Stronger soil modifications over larger areas are needed for feedbacks to impact exotic plant invasion velocity.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Environmental Science
- Soil Science
Background:
- Exotic plants can alter soil microbial communities and biogeochemical cycles.
- These soil changes may create feedback loops that benefit invasive species.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine when plant-soil feedbacks influence the spread of exotic plants.
- To utilize ecological invasion theory to analyze the role of soil feedbacks.
Main Methods:
- Incorporated soil feedbacks into annual plant invasion models.
- Derived conditions for soil feedbacks affecting invasion spread.
- Utilized simulations to support the theoretical approach.
Main Results:
- Strong positive feedbacks can influence annual invader spread in homogeneous landscapes.
- Empirically observed feedbacks are generally not strong enough to affect spread velocity.
- For feedbacks to impact spread, invaders must alter soil over unrealistically large spatial scales.
- Soil feedbacks do not significantly impact annual invader spread in the models but affect invader density and impact.
Conclusions:
- Plant-soil feedbacks are unlikely to drive the spread of annual invasive plants under current ecological conditions.
- Future research should explore landscape structure, dispersal, and feedback development time scales.
- Understanding these factors is crucial for regulating the impact of plant-soil feedbacks on invasion dynamics.
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