A recent
study showed invasive plant species Aegilops triuncialis changes
in soil microbial biomarker fatty acids negatively impacted
growth of the native species Lasthenia californica (but not the
growth of native species Plantago erecta) (Batten et al., 2008).
Other interactions may also strengthen feedbacks. Soil mesoand
macrofauna have been shown to limit root growth into
nutrient patches (Bradford et al., 2006) which may actually
increase plant dependence on nutrient-uptake mutualist partners.
As a result, plant-induced changes in soil diversity can feed back to influence plant diversity, and the maintenance of
these feedback loops are probably strong contributors to both
plant and soil community diversity.