Fungal decomposition of soil organic matter depends on soil nitrogen (N) availability. This ecosystem process is being jeopardized by changes in N inputs that have resulted from a tripling of atmospheric N deposition in the last century. Soil fungi are impacted by atmospheric N deposition due to higher N availability, as soils are acidified, or as micronutrients become increasingly limiting. Fungal communities that persist with chronic N deposition may be enriched with traits that enable them to tolerate environmental stress, which may trade-off with traits enabling organic matter decomposition. We hypothesized that fungal communities would respond to N deposition by shifting community composition and functional gene abundances toward those that tolerate stress but are weak decomposers. We sampled soils at seven eastern US hardwood forests where ambient N deposition varied from 3.2 to 12.6 kg N ha-1 year-1, five of which also have experimental plots where atmospheric N deposition was simulated through fertilizer application treatments (25–50 kg N ha-1 year-1). Fungal community and functional responses to fertilizer varied across the ambient N deposition gradient. Fungal biomass and richness increased with simulated N deposition at sites with low ambient deposition and decreased at sites with high ambient deposition. Fungal functional genes involved in hydrolysis of organic matter increased with ambient N deposition while genes involved in oxidation of organic matter decreased. One of four genes involved in generalized abiotic stress tolerance increased with ambient N deposition. In summary, we found that the divergent response to simulated N deposition depended on ambient N deposition levels. Fungal biomass, richness, and oxidative enzyme potential were reduced by N deposition where ambient N deposition was high suggesting fungal communities were pushed beyond an environmental stress threshold. Fungal community structure and function responses to N enrichment depended on ambient N deposition at a regional scale.
Moore, Jessica M., et al. "Fungal community structure and function shifts with atmospheric nitrogen deposition." Global Change Biology, vol. 27, no. 7, Nov. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15444
Moore, Jessica M., Anthony, Mark A., Pec, Gregory J., Trocha, Lidia K., Trzebny, Artur, Geyer, Kevin M., Diepen, Linda A., & Frey, Serita D. (2020). Fungal community structure and function shifts with atmospheric nitrogen deposition. Global Change Biology, 27(7). https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15444
Moore, Jessica M., Anthony, Mark A., Pec, Gregory J., et al., "Fungal community structure and function shifts with atmospheric nitrogen deposition," Global Change Biology 27, no. 7 (2020), https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15444
@article{osti_1808400,
author = {Moore, Jessica M. and Anthony, Mark A. and Pec, Gregory J. and Trocha, Lidia K. and Trzebny, Artur and Geyer, Kevin M. and Diepen, Linda A. and Frey, Serita D.},
title = {Fungal community structure and function shifts with atmospheric nitrogen deposition},
annote = {Fungal decomposition of soil organic matter depends on soil nitrogen (N) availability. This ecosystem process is being jeopardized by changes in N inputs that have resulted from a tripling of atmospheric N deposition in the last century. Soil fungi are impacted by atmospheric N deposition due to higher N availability, as soils are acidified, or as micronutrients become increasingly limiting. Fungal communities that persist with chronic N deposition may be enriched with traits that enable them to tolerate environmental stress, which may trade-off with traits enabling organic matter decomposition. We hypothesized that fungal communities would respond to N deposition by shifting community composition and functional gene abundances toward those that tolerate stress but are weak decomposers. We sampled soils at seven eastern US hardwood forests where ambient N deposition varied from 3.2 to 12.6 kg N ha-1 year-1, five of which also have experimental plots where atmospheric N deposition was simulated through fertilizer application treatments (25–50 kg N ha-1 year-1). Fungal community and functional responses to fertilizer varied across the ambient N deposition gradient. Fungal biomass and richness increased with simulated N deposition at sites with low ambient deposition and decreased at sites with high ambient deposition. Fungal functional genes involved in hydrolysis of organic matter increased with ambient N deposition while genes involved in oxidation of organic matter decreased. One of four genes involved in generalized abiotic stress tolerance increased with ambient N deposition. In summary, we found that the divergent response to simulated N deposition depended on ambient N deposition levels. Fungal biomass, richness, and oxidative enzyme potential were reduced by N deposition where ambient N deposition was high suggesting fungal communities were pushed beyond an environmental stress threshold. Fungal community structure and function responses to N enrichment depended on ambient N deposition at a regional scale.},
doi = {10.1111/gcb.15444},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1808400},
journal = {Global Change Biology},
issn = {ISSN 1354-1013},
number = {7},
volume = {27},
place = {United States},
publisher = {Wiley},
year = {2020},
month = {11}}