title: Rapid response of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities to short-term fertilization in an alpine grassland on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) is home to the vast grassland in China. The QTP grassland ecosystem has been seriously degraded by human land use practices and climate change. Fertilization is used in this region to increase vegetation yields for grazers. The impact of long-term fertilization on plant and microbial communities has been studied extensively. However, the influence of short-term fertilization on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) communities in the QTP is largely unknown, despite their important functional role in grassland ecosystems.
  
  
  METHODS
  We investigated AMF community responses to three years of N and/or P addition at an experimental field site on the QTP, using the Illumina MiSeq platform (PE 300).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fertilization resulted in a dramatic shift in AMF community composition and NP addition significantly increased AMF species richness and phylogenetic diversity. Aboveground biomass, available phosphorus, and NO3 (-) were significantly correlated with changes in AMF community structure. Changes in these factors were driven by fertilization treatments. Thus, fertilization had a large impact on AMF communities, mediated by changes in aboveground productivity and soil chemistry.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Prior work has shown how plants often lower their reliance on AMF symbioses following fertilization, leading to decrease AMF abundance and diversity. However, our study reports a rise in AMF diversity with fertilization treatment. Because AMF can provide stress tolerance to their hosts, we suggest that extreme weather on the QTP may help drive a positive relationship between fertilizer amendment and AMF diversity.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xingjia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, Massachusetts , USA.
authors.forename: Sean M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Gibbons
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China; Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, Qinghai, China.
authors.forename: Jin-Sheng
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University , Beijing , China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Nanjing , China.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Xining, Qinghai , China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Nanjing , China.
authors.forename: Yingying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ni
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Nanjing , China.
authors.forename: Haiyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chu
keywords: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; Community; Diversity; Fertilization; Plateau