title: Evidence for phylogenetic correlation of plant-AMF assemblages?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Specificity in biotic interactions is mediated' by functional traits inducing shifts in the community species composition. Functional traits are often evolutionarily conserved, resulting in closely related species tending to interact with similar species. This tendency may initially shape the phylogenetic composition of coexisting guilds, but other intraguild ecological processes may either blur or promote the mirroring of the phylogenetic compositions between guilds. The roles of intra- and interguild interactions in shaping the phylogenetic community composition are largely unknown, beyond the mere selectivity in the interguild interactions. Plant facilitation is a phylogenetically structured species-specific process involving interactions not only between the same guild of plants, but also between plants and other guilds such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). In this study it is hypothesized that reciprocal plant-AMF interactions will leave an interdependent phylogenetic signal in the community composition of both plants and AMF.
  
  
  METHODS
  A correlation was used to test for a relationship between the phylogenetic composition of plant and AMF assemblages in a patchy xeric shrubland environment shaped by plant facilitation. In addition, a null model was used to test whether this correlation can be solely explained by selectivity in plant-AMF interactions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A significant correlation was observed between the phylogenetic composition of plant and AMF assemblages. Plant phylogenetic composition in a patch was related to the predominance of plant species with high nursery quality that can influence the community assembly. AMF phylogenetic composition was related to the AMF phylogenetic diversity in each patch.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows that shifts in the phylogenetic composition of plants and AMF assemblages do not occur independently. It is suggested that besides selectivity in plant-AMF interactions, inter-related succession dynamics of plants and AMF within patches could be an ecological mechanism driving community assembly. Future lines of research might explore whether interlinked above- and below-ground dynamics could be occurring across multiple guilds simultaneously.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificación (CIDE, CSIC-UV-GV), Carretera de Moncada-Náquera Km 4.5 46113 Moncada, Valencia Spain, Departamento de Ecología de la Biodiversidad, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, AP 70-275, CP 04510, México, DF, México and Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Ciudad Universitaria, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510, DF, México Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificación (CIDE, CSIC-UV-GV), Carretera de Moncada-Náquera Km 4.5 46113 Moncada, Valencia Spain, Departamento de Ecología de la Biodiversidad, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, AP 70-275, CP 04510, México, DF, México and Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Ciudad Universitaria, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510, DF, México ali.montesinos@gmail.com.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Montesinos-Navarro
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificación (CIDE, CSIC-UV-GV), Carretera de Moncada-Náquera Km 4.5 46113 Moncada, Valencia Spain, Departamento de Ecología de la Biodiversidad, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, AP 70-275, CP 04510, México, DF, México and Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Ciudad Universitaria, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510, DF, México.
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Segarra-Moragues
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificación (CIDE, CSIC-UV-GV), Carretera de Moncada-Náquera Km 4.5 46113 Moncada, Valencia Spain, Departamento de Ecología de la Biodiversidad, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, AP 70-275, CP 04510, México, DF, México and Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Ciudad Universitaria, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510, DF, México Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificación (CIDE, CSIC-UV-GV), Carretera de Moncada-Náquera Km 4.5 46113 Moncada, Valencia Spain, Departamento de Ecología de la Biodiversidad, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, AP 70-275, CP 04510, México, DF, México and Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Ciudad Universitaria, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510, DF, México.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Valiente-Banuet
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificación (CIDE, CSIC-UV-GV), Carretera de Moncada-Náquera Km 4.5 46113 Moncada, Valencia Spain, Departamento de Ecología de la Biodiversidad, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, AP 70-275, CP 04510, México, DF, México and Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Ciudad Universitaria, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510, DF, México.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Verdú
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D005658:Fungi / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D038821:Mycorrhizae / Q000502:physiology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000382:microbiology / Q000502:physiology; D010944:Plants / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins
keywords: AMF; Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; biotic interactions; community assemblages; facilitation; phylogenetic composition; plant guilds; vegetation patches; xeric shrubland