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Article summary:
1. Soils are home to a diverse community of microbes that provide plants with key functions, such as enhanced growth and protection against pests and diseases.
2. Plant-soil feedbacks can be used to manipulate soil microbiomes to optimize induced resistance in crops against above-ground pests.
3. This study assessed how inoculation with soil from grass and forb species alters soil microbiomes after growth of a second, focal plant, and whether soil inoculation alters resistance to above-ground herbivorous pests in a crop system.
Article analysis:
The article is generally reliable and trustworthy, as it provides evidence for its claims through references to previous studies and experiments conducted by the authors themselves. The authors also provide detailed descriptions of their methods, which allows readers to assess the validity of their results. Furthermore, the authors acknowledge potential biases in their study, such as the limited number of species used in their experiment, which could affect the generalizability of their findings.
However, there are some areas where the article could be improved upon. For example, while the authors discuss potential risks associated with manipulating soil microbiomes (e.g., allelopathy or accumulation of pathogens), they do not provide any evidence or data to support these claims. Additionally, while they discuss possible counterarguments to their hypothesis (e.g., that a single inoculation may only influence plant growth for a short period of time), they do not explore these arguments further or provide any evidence for them either. Finally, while the authors discuss potential benefits of manipulating soil microbiomes (e.g., increased resistance against herbivorous pests), they do not discuss any potential drawbacks or risks associated with this approach either.