Increasing exotic dominance generates soil microbial legacies that favor exotic over native plants

The dataset was generated from a two-phase greenhouse experiment investigating how shifts in plant community composition toward exotic dominance alter soil microbial legacies and influence subsequent plant performance.In phase I (conditioning phase), soils were conditioned by plant communities containing different proportions of exotic and native plants, representing a gradient from native dominance to exotic dominance (exotic:native ratios of 0:4, 1:3, 2:2, 3:1, and 4:0).

The conditioning experiment included 10 exotic and 10 native plant species commonly occurring in abandoned agricultural fields around Wuhan, China.In phase II (responding phase) , microbial legacy effects were evaluated by growing exotic and native plants in conditioned soils (and sterile soils) under different competition scenarios in responding phase, including solitary growth, intraspecific competition, and interspecific competition.The dataset includes aboveground biomass measurements of exotic and native plants grown under different soil conditioning treatments and competition scenarios.Important column descriptions include:Species combination: identity of the plant community composition used in conditioning phase (20 combinations).Exotic proportion: proportion of exotic plants in conditioning phase (0.00, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.00) and sterile soilsResponding species: identity of the focal species measured in responding phase (20 species).Competition type: plant performance in responding phase, including solitary growth (n), intraspecific competition (r), or interspecific competition (e).Block: experimental block identity (b1, b2, b3).Biomass: measured aboveground plant biomass.This dataset provides empirical evidence for understanding how plant community transitions and soil microbial legacies influence plant performance during biological invasions.