Microbiota had an effect on germination that differed between sites, perhaps due to climatic constrains. We show that the assembly of understory microbial communities depends on the plant's sorting effect on the surrounding soil microbiota, plus some other taxa likely transferred by seeds; this assembly mechanism is relevant for the coevolution of plants and microorganisms, and critical for potential community responses to environmental changes.
Díaz-Santiago et al. (Tue,) studied this question.