Plant species and soil
We selected twelve herbaceous species that co-occur in natural old
fields in southern China for setting up model plant communities,
including three grasses (Dactyloctenium aegyptium ,Digitaria radicosa and Isachne repens ), eight non-legume
forbs (Celosia argentea , Amaranthus viridis ,Achyranthes aspera , Emilia sonchifolia , Ageratum
conyzoides , Eclipta prostrata , Ludwigia hyssopifolia andCapsella bursa-pastoris ), and a legume (Mimosa pudica ).Isachne repens and Achyranthes aspera are perennial
species, Mimosa pudica can be either an annual or perennial and
the rest are annual species. Seeds were collected from January to
February 2019 in old fields in Fengkai County, China. Soil was collected
in an old field in Fengkai County, China (23.51oN,
111.82oE). The climate is subtropical monsoon with a
mean annual temperature of 19.6oC and a mean annual
precipitation of 1532.8 mm. On March 22nd 2019,
topsoil (15cm depth) was collected, sieved at 1cm mesh to remove large
particles and organic debris, and homogenized thoroughly prior to the
experiment.