Table 3.
Description of the type of measurements and methods employed and timing in each of the field experiments.
| Organisms | Type of measurement | Method | Reference | COMBINATION | PERFORMANCE-1 | PERFORMANCE-2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bacteria | Sample type | Composite samples of wheat roots | Authors | Wheat roots | Wheat roots | Wheat roots |
| Quantification at seeding | CFU counting on selective media | Authors | 28.03.2014 | 28.03.2014 | 27.03.2015 | |
| Quantification during wheat growth | CFU counting on selective media | Authors | 03.06.2014 | 03.06.2014 25.06.2014 22.07.2014 |
27.04.2015 18.05.2015 29.06.2015 |
|
| Tracing presence in buffer zones | CFU counting on selective media | Authors | Not done | 03.06.2014 | Not done | |
| Tracing in non-agricultural soil of border zone | CFU counting on selective media | Authors | Not done | 25.06.2014 22.07.2014 |
Not done | |
| AMF | Sample type | Composite samples of wheat roots | Authors | Wheat roots | Not contributed | Wheat roots |
| Quantification of inoculum | Real-time qPCR using primers targeting the inocula | Authors | At harvest | Not contributed | At harvest | |
| Determination of AMF community | AMF community sequencing | Schlaeppi et al., 2016 | At harvest | Not contributed | Not done | |
| EPN | Sample type | Composite soil sample | 12 soil cores/plot | 15 soil cores/plot | 15 soil cores/plot | |
| EPN presence: pre-inoculation (baseline) | Species-specific primers/probes and real time qPCR | Campos-Herrera et al., 2015a | 27.03.2014 (Baseline) | 27.03.2014 (Baseline) | 27.03.2015 (Baseline) | |
| EPN presence: post-augmentation | Species-specific primers/probes and real time qPCR | Campos-Herrera et al., 2015a | 25.06.2014 | 25.06.2014 | 17.06.2015 | |
| EPN activity: insect-baits | Galleria bait | Bedding and Akhurst, 1975 | 25.06.2014 | 25.06.2014 | 17.06.2015 | |
| Soil food web assemblage (nematophagous fungi, free-living nematodes and ectophoretic bacteria) | Species-specific primers/probes and real time qPCR | Atkins et al., 2005; Zhang et al., 2006; Campos-Herrera et al., 2011b, 2012, 2015b; Pathak et al., 2012 | 27.03.2014 (Baseline) 25.06.2014 |
27.03.2014 (Baseline) 25.06.2014 |
27.03.2015 (Baseline) 17.06.2015 |
|
| Plantsa | Height (average per plot) | Measured from shoot base to the upper growth | Authors | – | – | 23.04.2015 05.06.2015 18.05.2015 01.06.2015 08.06.2015 |
| Weight | Eight plants | Authors | – | – | At harvest | |
| Density (% of plot surface covered by plants)/number of plants per linear meter | Visual scoring | Authors | – | 14.05.2014 21.05.2014 11.06.2014 |
06.05.2015 18.05.2015 18.06.2015 29.06.2015 |
|
| Chlorophyll activity | N-tester (YARA) | Authors | – | – | 08.06.2015 | |
| Yield (g seeds/plot); | Weighing wheat seeds at dough developmental stage | Authors | – | At harvest | At harvest | |
| Thousand-seed weight (TSW) | Marvin seed analyzer | Gegas et al., 2010 | – | – | At harvest | |
| Protein content (%) | Near-infrared spectroscopy | Authors | – | – | At harvest | |
| Insect pest and pathogen incidence | Visual counts | Authors | Weekly | Weekly | Weekly |
a
Measurements were made for the three field experiments, but data are considered not representative due to the small size of the plots (COMBINATION assay) and/or the highly heterogeneous growth of the wheat plants within the plots following heavy frit fly damage in the 2014 COMBINATION and PERFORMANCE-1 assays.