title: Host plant richness explains diversity of ectomycorrhizal fungi: Response to the comment of Tedersoo et al. (2014).
abstract: Exploring the relationships between the biodiversity of groups of interacting organisms yields insight into ecosystem stability and function (Hooper et al. ; Wardle ). We demonstrated positive relationships between host plant richness and ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungal diversity both in a field study in subtropical China (Gutianshan) and in a meta-analysis of temperate and tropical studies (Gao et al. ). However, based on re-evaluation of our data sets, Tedersoo et al. () argue that the observed positive correlation between EM fungal richness and EM plant richness at Gutianshan and also in our metastudies was based mainly from (i) a sampling design with inconsistent species pool and (ii) poor data compilation for the meta-analysis. Accordingly, we checked our data sets and repeated the analysis performed by Tedersoo et al. (). In contrast to Tedersoo et al. (), our re-analysis still confirms a positive effect of plant richness on EM fungal diversity in Gutianshan, temperate and tropical ecosystems, respectively.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, NO. 1 Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100101, China.
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Nan-Nan
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Yue-Xing
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Qiong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Xiang-Cheng
authors.initials: XC
authors.lastname: Mi
authors.forename: Ke-Ping
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Tesfaye
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wubet
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Buscot
authors.forename: Liang-Dong
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Guo
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000382:microbiology*; D038821:Mycorrhizae / Q000235:genetics*; D012988:Soil Microbiology
keywords: community ecology; ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity; environmental DNA; host plant richness