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The phyllosphere (comprising the leaf surface and interior) is one of the world's largest microbial habitats and is host to an abundant and diverse array of bacteria. Nonetheless, the degree to which bacterial communities are benign, harmful, or beneficial to plants in situ is unknown. We tested the hypothesis that the net effect of reducing bacterial abundance and diversity would vary substantially among host species (from harmful to beneficial) and this would be strongly mediated by soil resource availability. To test this, we monitored tree seedling growth responses to commercial antibiotics among replicated resource supply treatments (N, P, K) in a tropical forest in Panama for 29 months. We applied either antibiotics or control water to replicated seedlings of five common tree species (Alseis blackiana, Desmopsis panamensis, Heisteria concinna, Sorocea affinis, and Tetragastris panamensis). These antibiotic …