Abstract
While the evidence supports a role for the soil microbiome to modulate
the environmental tolerance of various plant species, its role in the
invasion success remains seldom assessed. Here we show results from two
complementary experiments aimed at understanding the role of the soil
microbiome on the performance of T. officinale (dandelion) plants. Since
the relative importance of soil microbiome on plant fitness can differ
between native versus introduced origins, we conducted a full
cross-transplant experiment to compare the plant performance from
different origins (native/introduced) in their original or exotic soils,
along with manipulated soil microbiome. In addition, since the relevance
of soil microbiome for plant fitness can depend on the level of
environmental stress, we compared the plant performance under different
soil microbiome treatments in an introduced latitudinal gradient. We
found positive effects of soil microbiome on performance traits for T.
officinale plants from most of the evaluated populations, being
particularly relevant for plants in the introduced range and under
stressful conditions.