title: Pervasive and strong effects of plants on soil chemistry: a meta-analysis of individual plant 'Zinke' effects.
abstract: Plant species leave a chemical signature in the soils below them, generating fine-scale spatial variation that drives ecological processes. Since the publication of a seminal paper on plant-mediated soil heterogeneity by Paul Zinke in 1962, a robust literature has developed examining effects of individual plants on their local environments (individual plant effects). Here, we synthesize this work using meta-analysis to show that plant effects are strong and pervasive across ecosystems on six continents. Overall, soil properties beneath individual plants differ from those of neighbours by an average of 41%. Although the magnitudes of individual plant effects exhibit weak relationships with climate and latitude, they are significantly stronger in deserts and tundra than forests, and weaker in intensively managed ecosystems. The ubiquitous effects of plant individuals and species on local soil properties imply that individual plant effects have a role in plant-soil feedbacks, linking individual plants with biogeochemical processes at the ecosystem scale.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA.
authors.forename: Bonnie G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Waring
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI 53201, USA Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Panamá Department of Plant Ecology, University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany.
authors.forename: Leonor
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Álvarez-Cansino
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53211, USA.
authors.forename: Kathryn E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Barry
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA.
authors.forename: Kristen K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Becklund
authors.affiliation: Nurture Lakeland, Windermere Road, Staveley, Cumbria, UK.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dale
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA.
authors.forename: Maria G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Gei
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Adrienne B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.affiliation: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Panamá Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Servicios de Alta Tecnología, Apartado 0843-01103 Edificio 219, Ciudad del Saber, Clayton, Panamá, Republica de Panamá
authors.forename: Omar R
authors.initials: OR
authors.lastname: Lopez
authors.affiliation: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Panamá Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Markesteijn
authors.affiliation: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Panamá Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mangan
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA.
authors.forename: Charlotte E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Riggs
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53211, USA.
authors.forename: María Elizabeth
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Ronderos
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: R Max
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Segnitz
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI 53201, USA Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Panamá
authors.forename: Stefan A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Schnitzer
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA Department of Plant Biology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Panamá powers@umn.edu.
authors.forename: Jennifer S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Powers
mesh_terms: D017753:Ecosystem; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D012987:Soil
keywords: individual plant effects; plant–soil interactions; spatial heterogeneity