The effect of microbial inoculation on plant productivity
Inoculation of leaf microbial inoculum reduced plant productivity while
inoculation of soil microbial inoculum increased plant productivity
(Table 1, Fig. 1). There was a significant interaction between soil and
leaf microbial inoculum in affecting plant productivity (Table 1,
F(2, 292) = 7.34, p < 0.001). Specifically,
the negative effects of high-concentration leaf microbial inoculum on
plant productivity became weak when soil microbes were inoculated, e.g.
high-concentration leaf microbial inoculation decreased plant
productivity by 27% with no soil inoculation but decreased productivity
by only 3% with soil microbe inoculation (Fig. 1a). Conversely, the
positive effect of soil microbes on productivity was only significant
when leaf microbes were inoculated, e.g. soil microbe inoculation
increased productivity by 26% when leaf inoculum was applied while
decreased plant productivity by 5% when soil microbes were inoculated
alone (Fig. 1b).