Priority effects alter interaction outcomes in a legume-rhizobium mutualism

Julia A. Boyle*, Anna K. Simonsen, Megan E. Frederickson, John R. Stinchcombe

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    11 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Priority effects occur when the order of species arrival affects the final community structure. Mutualists often interact with multiple partners in different orders, but if or how priority effects alter interaction outcomes is an open question. In the field, we paired the legume Medicago lupulina with two nodulating strains of Ensifer bacteria that vary in nitrogen-fixing ability. We inoculated plants with strains in different orders and measured interaction outcomes. The first strain to arrive primarily determined plant performance and final relative abundances of rhizobia on roots. Plants that received effective microbes first and ineffective microbes second grew larger than plants inoculated with the same microbes in the opposite order. Our results show that mutualism outcomes can be influenced not just by partner identity, but by the interaction order. Furthermore, hosts receiving high-quality mutualists early can better tolerate low-quality symbionts later, indicating that priority effects may help explain the persistence of ineffective symbionts.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number2753
    JournalProceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
    Volume288
    Issue number1946
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 10 Mar 2021

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