Plant species used in experiments.

1<p>Nomenclature according to Van der Meijden <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0031596#pone.0031596-VanderMeijden1" target="_blank">[80]</a>.</p>2<p><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0031596#pone.0031596-Tamis2" target="_blank">[69]</a>.</p>3<p>Native to the Netherlands.</p>4<p>recently <i>Senecio jacobaea</i> has been renamed as <i>Jacobaea vulgaris</i><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0031596#pone.0031596-Pelser1" target="_blank">[81]</a>.</p

Mean cumulative soil respiration.

<p>(± SE). Measured in flasks with litter from exotic (filled circles) and native plant species (open circles) for <i>Artemisia</i> (a), <i>Rorippa</i> (b), and <i>Senecio</i> (c).</p

Repeated-measure ANOVA for soil respiration.

<p>Litter from exotic versus native plant species (named Origin) of three genera (<i>Artemisia, Rorippa</i> and <i>Senecio</i>) were compared.</p

ANOVA for effects of litter on soil properties.

<p>Litter from exotic or native species (Origin) were compared for three plant genera (<i>Artemisia</i>, <i>Rorippa</i> and <i>Senecio</i>) at three destructive sampling points (Time).</p>1<p>Numerator d.f. is 2 for time, 1 for origin and 2 for Time×Origin. Denominator d.f. is 24 for <i>Artemisia</i> and <i>Senecio</i> and 12 for <i>Rorippa</i> pair.</p

Effects of litter on nitrogen, fungal biomass and cellulase activity.

<p>Soil available inorganic nitrogen (N) (A, B, C), fungal biomass (D, E, F) and cellulase activity (G, H, I) in soil mixed with litter from exotic plant species (filled circles) and litter from native plant species (open circles). Means (± SE) are presented for <i>Artemisia</i> (A, D, G), <i>Rorippa</i> (B, E, H) and <i>Senecio</i> (C, F, I).</p

ANOVA for effects of litter effects on plant performance.

<p>Litter effects from exotic versus native plant species (Litter) on germination or (in the case of <i>Rorippa</i>) sprouting rates and plant biomass production as well as the differences between exotic and native plant species (Plant) within three genera (<i>Artemisia</i>, <i>Rorippa</i>, and <i>Senecio</i>).</p>1<p>Numerator d.f. is 1 for all factors. Denominator d.f. is 16, except for Rorippa-pair where denominator d.f. is 14.</p

Leaf litter decomposition in dryland under different three litter postions

There are three excel sheets. 1. Initial traits and k values in litter decomposition model across 17 desert species 2. The fraction of mass loss during three incubation times for each of three treatments 3. Litter concentration during different incubation times for each of threee treatmen

Appendix A. Validating assumptions.

Validating assumptions

Appendix B. Decomposition rates of different wood types.

Decomposition rates of different wood types

Leaf Economics traits for wheat and maize

Data compilation for: Inter- and intraspecific variation in leaf economics traits in wheat and maize. Data are compiled through both primary literature, as well as the TRY Functional Trait database. All data sources for each trait observation are specified