Our first objective was to find out how soil compaction and soil
type affect different root traits and plant functioning. Interestingly,
we found that most of the variables studied were affected by soil
compaction variables instead of chemical ones. The coefficient of
variation in soil compaction variables (bulk density and penetration resistance) and chemical properties of the soils was similar
(Fig. S2, Supplementary Material), indicating that the higher effect
of soil compaction in comparison to chemical variables is due to
a higher response of Fraxinus seedlings to soil compaction. However, variables related to plant growth and morphology were more
affected by soil type, which could be due to the role of the nutrients
Fig