Common Names: eastern hophornbeam, hophornbeam
This study investigated how the microbial communities surrounding trees affect plant populations. Researchers grew seedlings from multiple locations in soil with microbial communities from all locations in a reciprocal design. They found that while seedlings grew similarly when inoculated with local or foreign microbial communities, conflicting patterns revealed that plant populations were adapted to the presence or absence of whole taxonomic groups in their local microbial community, but were maladapted to the particular microbial populations present in their local site. This suggests that the establishment of seedlings may depend on the balance between the novelty and familiarity of the microbial communities they encounter. As a result, climate change and other factors that move tree populations into new areas may have a significant impact on their ability to establish and thrive.