Fig. 1

Overview of sampling strategy. A Schematic of sampled crop rotation practices. Four plots employed continuous cropping (left, orange), whereby oilseed rape was grown for three consecutive years. Another four plots employed virgin rotation (right, blue), whereby oilseed rape was grown following two preceding years of winter wheat. Eight plants were taken from each plot to generate each sample during the third year of crop growth. B Schematic of sampled compartments. Samples were taken from bulk soil (circles), rhizosphere soil (triangles), and roots (squares). C Libraries constructed for each sampling time point. Tick icon indicates data library construction for the given time point. Seedling samples were taken in November (N), stem extension samples were taken in March (M), and pre-harvest samples were taken in June (J)