Fig 1.
Transect sampling design at perennial grassland-annual cropland edges. At each edge site, two per location, three transects (33m from edge into each land use) were spaced 3m apart. Each transect had 15 sampling point locations relative to the edge (25cm-33m). Each sampling point along the transect was randomly assigned to one of three positions (x): 1m left, 1m right or on the transect. At each site, there was a total of 90 sample points (2 sample locations * 3 nested transects * 15 sampling points per transect).
Fig 2.
Non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis of vegetation cover.
A non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis of vegetation cover at (a) Conservation Learning Centre and (b) St. Denis National Wildlife Area. The colour gradient represents sampling points from 0 m to 33m (into either cropland or perennial grassland), with 0 m being the edge. Shapes represent edge location, triangles are edge points (0m), squares represent points in the perennial grassland and circles represent points in the cropland. Soil property vectors are overlaid on each plot.
Fig 3.
Non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis of microbial community across croplands and perennial grasslands.
Non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis for the (a, b) bacterial community and the (c, d) fungal community at the Conservation Learning Centre (CLC) and St. Denis National Wildlife Area (SDNWA). Shape and colour of the points represent location across the edge; perennial grassland (teal squares), edge (purple triangles), and cropland (yellow circles).
Fig 4.
Structural equation model for relationships between land management, microbial communities, soil properties, and vegetation.
Final structural equation model (χ2 p-value = 0.144, RMSEA = 0.074, CFI = 0.996) representing the causal relationships between land management, aboveground plants, soil properties and microbial communities with edge (a) and perennial (b) as the reference category. Data from both SDNWA and CLC are included. Solid arrows are significant (p < 0.05) and pathways with dashed arrows are non-significant. Green arrows represent significant positive pathways and red arrows represent significant negative pathways. Standardized partial path coefficients are beside each pathway arrow and R2 values provided for each dependent variable.
Table 1.
Fungal genera abundance across croplands and perennial grasslands.