In response to environmental conditions, plants can alter the performance of the next generation through maternal effects. Since plant–soil feedbacks (PSFs) influence soil conditions, PSFs likely create such intergenerational effects. We grew monocultures of three grass and three forb species in outdoor mesocosms. We then grew one of the six species, Hypochaeris radicata, in the conditioned soils and collected their seeds. We measured seed weight, carbon and nitrogen concentration, germination and seedling performance when grown on a common soil. We did not detect functional group intergenerational effects, but soils conditioned by different plant species affected H. radicata seed C to N ratios. There was a relationship between parent biomass in the differently conditioned soils and the germination rates of the offspring. However, these effects did not change offspring performance on a common soil. Our findings show that PSF effects changed seed quality and initial performance in a common grassland forb. We discuss the implications of our findings for multi-generational plant–soil interactions, and highlight the need to further explore how PSF effects shape plant community dynamics over different generations and across a broad range of species and functional groups.

中文翻译：

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植物-土壤反馈如何影响下一代植物

为了响应环境条件，植​​物可以通过母体效应改变下一代的表现。由于植物-土壤反馈 (PSF) 会影响土壤条件，因此 PSF 可能会产生这种代际效应。我们在户外中层环境中种植了三种草和三种杂草的单一栽培。然后，我们在经过调节的土壤中种植了六种植物中的一种，Hypochaeris radicata，并收集了它们的种子。我们测量了在普通土壤上生长时的种子重量、碳和氮浓度、发芽和幼苗性能。我们没有检测到功能组的代际效应，但受不同植物物种调节的土壤影响了 H. radicata 种子 C 与 N 的比率。不同条件土壤中的亲本生物量与后代的发芽率之间存在关系。然而，这些影响并没有改变后代在共同土壤上的表现。我们的研究结果表明，PSF 效应改变了普通草地杂草的种子质量和初始性能。我们讨论了我们的发现对多代植物 - 土壤相互作用的影响，并强调需要进一步探索 PSF 效应如何影响不同世代和广泛物种和功能群的植物群落动态。