title: Fire-severity effects on plant-fungal interactions after a novel tundra wildfire disturbance: implications for arctic shrub and tree migration.
abstract: Vegetation change in high latitude tundra ecosystems is expected to accelerate due to increased wildfire activity. High-severity fires increase the availability of mineral soil seedbeds, which facilitates recruitment, yet fire also alters soil microbial composition, which could significantly impact seedling establishment.
  
  
  
  We investigated the effects of fire severity on soil biota and associated effects on plant performance for two plant species predicted to expand into Arctic tundra. We inoculated seedlings in a growth chamber experiment with soils collected from the largest tundra fire recorded in the Arctic and used molecular tools to characterize root-associated fungal communities. Seedling biomass was significantly related to the composition of fungal inoculum. Biomass decreased as fire severity increased and the proportion of pathogenic fungi increased.
  
  
  
  Our results suggest that effects of fire severity on soil biota reduces seedling performance and thus we hypothesize that in certain ecological contexts fire-severity effects on plant-fungal interactions may dampen the expected increases in tree and shrub establishment after tundra fire.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA. rebecca.hewitt@nau.edu.|Center for Ecosystem Science and Society, Northern Arizona University, PO Box 5620, Flagstaff, AZ, 86011, USA. rebecca.hewitt@nau.edu.
authors.forename: Rebecca E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Hewitt
authors.affiliation: US Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Boreal Ecology Cooperative Research Unit, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA.
authors.forename: Teresa N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Hollingsworth
authors.affiliation: Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Stuart Chapin Iii
authors.affiliation: Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA.|Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lee Taylor
mesh_terms: D001110:Arctic Regions; D005658:Fungi / Q000502:physiology*; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena; D010944:Plants / Q000382:microbiology*; D014197:Trees / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology; D065929:Tundra
keywords: ARISA; Alnus viridis; Arctic tundra; Climate change; Fire severity; Fungal internal transcribed spacer (ITS); Picea mariana; Shrub expansion; Treeline