Ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity and saprotrophic fungal diversity are linked to different tree community attributes in a field-based tree experiment.
Exploring the link between above- and belowground biodiversity has been a major theme of recent ecological research, due in large part to the increasingly well-recognized role that soil microorganisms play in driving plant community processes. In this study, we utilized a field-based tree experiment in Minnesota, USA, to assess the effect of changes in plant species richness and phylogenetic diversity on the richness and composition of both ectomycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungal communities. We found that ectomycorrhizal fungal species richness was significantly positively influenced by increasing plant phylogenetic diversity, while saprotrophic fungal species richness was significantly affected by plant leaf nitrogen content, specific root length and standing biomass. The increasing ectomycorrhizal fungal richness associated with increasing plant phylogenetic diversity was driven by the combined presence of ectomycorrhizal fungal specialists in plots with both gymnosperm and angiosperm hosts. Although the species composition of both the ectomycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungal communities changed significantly in response to changes in plant species composition, the effect was much greater for ectomycorrhizal fungi. In addition, ectomycorrhizal but not saprotrophic fungal species composition was significantly influenced by both plant phylum (angiosperm, gymnosperm, both) and origin (Europe, America, both). The phylum effect was caused by differences in ectomycorrhizal fungal community composition, while the origin effect was attributable to differences in community heterogeneity. Taken together, this study emphasizes that plant-associated effects on soil fungal communities are largely guild-specific and provides a mechanistic basis for the positive link between plant phylogenetic diversity and ectomycorrhizal fungal richness.
Department of Plant Biology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA.
Nhu H
NH
Nguyen
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA.
Laura J
LJ
Williams
Department of Plant Biology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA.
John B
JB
Vincent
Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA.
Artur
A
Stefanski
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA.
Jeannine
J
Cavender-Bares
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Quebec, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Christian
C
Messier
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Quebec, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Alain
A
Paquette
Department of Biology, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada.
Dominique
D
Gravel
Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA.
Peter B
PB
Reich
Department of Plant Biology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA.|Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA.
Peter G
PG
Kennedy
D044822:Biodiversity; D032462:Cycadopsida / Q000382:microbiology; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000382:microbiology; D008910:Minnesota; D038821:Mycorrhizae / Q000145:classification*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D014197:Trees / Q000382:microbiology*
fungal guild; geographic origin; host specificity; microbial richness; plant phylogenetic diversity