Fig. 7

Variation in beta diversity of differently treated apple saplings at three distinct timepoints (TP) in the L-compartment (upper panel) and T-compartment (lower panel). Variation is presented based on constrained analysis of principle coordinates (CAP) using DEICODE distance matrices; it is constrained by the variables sampling timepoint, treatment and disease severity. Plants were either inoculated with P. leucotricha and left untreated (IU) or were additionally treated with a synthetic fungicide (IT), or they underwent a treatment with water as control (NC). The different treatments are shown in different colors, and disease severity is illustrated by different symbol sizes, rated on a 0–5 scale with 0 = healthy plants and 5 = plants having multiple leaves entirely covered with mycelium and with leaves close to senescence