Pervasive interactions between foliar microbes and soil nutrients mediate leaf production and herbivore damage in a tropical forest

Summary Producing and retaining leaves underlie the performance and survivorship of seedlings in deeply shaded tropical forests. These habitats are characterized by conditions ideal for foliar bacteria, which can be potent plant pathogens. Leaf production, retention and susceptibility to enemies may ultimately depend upon interactions among soil nutrients and foliar microbes, yet this has never been tested. We experimentally evaluated the degree that foliar bacteria and soil resource supply mediate leaf dynamics for five common tree species (five different families) in a Panamanian forest. We reduced foliar bacteria with antibiotics for 29 months and measured leaf production, retention and damage for seedlings nested within a replicated 15‐yr factorial nutrient enrichment experiment (nitrogen, N; phosphorus, P; potassium, K). Our results demonstrate that when we applied antibiotics, soil nutrients – particularly N – always regulated seedling leaf production (and to a lesser extent herbivore damage) for all five tree species. In addition, it was common for two macronutrients together to negate or completely reverse the impact of applying either one alone. Our findings of frequent plant–microbe–nutrient interactions are novel and suggest that these interactions may reinforce plant species–environment associations, thereby creating a fairly cryptic and fine‐scale dimension of niche differentiation for coexisting tree species.