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Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Tree Communities Have Greater Soil Fungal Diversity and Relative Abundances of Saprotrophs and Pathogens than Ectomycorrhizal Tree Communities

Journal Article · · Applied and Environmental Microbiology
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.01782-21· OSTI ID:1980757
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6]
  1. Kent State Univ., Kent, OH (United States); Kent State Univ., Kent, OH (United States)
  2. Univ. of Warwick, Coventry (United Kingdom)
  3. Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)
  4. Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY (United States)
  5. Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN (United States)
  6. Kent State Univ., Kent, OH (United States)

Trees associating with different mycorrhizas often differ in their effects on litter decomposition, nutrient cycling, soil organic matter (SOM) dynamics, and plant-soil interactions. For example, due to differences between arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and ectomycorrhizal (ECM) tree leaf and root traits, ECM-associated soil has lower rates of C and N cycling and lower N availability than AM-associated soil. These observations suggest that many groups of nonmycorrhizal fungi should be affected by the mycorrhizal associations of dominant trees through controls on nutrient availability. To test this overarching hypothesis, we explored the influence of predominant forest mycorrhizal type and mineral N availability on soil fungal communities using next-generation amplicon sequencing. Soils from four temperate hardwood forests in southern Indiana, United States, were studied; three forests formed a natural gradient of mycorrhizal dominance (100% AM tree basal area to 100% ECM basal area), while the fourth forest contained a factorial experiment testing long-term N addition in both dominant mycorrhizal types. We found that overall fungal diversity, as well as the diversity and relative abundance of plant pathogenic and saprotrophic fungi, increased with greater AM tree dominance. Additionally, tree community mycorrhizal associations explained more variation in fungal community composition than abiotic variables, including soil depth, SOM content, nitrification rate, and mineral N availability. Our findings suggest that tree mycorrhizal associations may be good predictors of the diversity, composition, and functional potential of soil fungal communities in temperate hardwood forests. These observations help explain differing biogeochemistry and community dynamics found in forest stands dominated by differing mycorrhizal types.

Research Organization:
Kent State Univ., Kent, OH (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0004335
OSTI ID:
1980757
Journal Information:
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Journal Name: Applied and Environmental Microbiology Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 88; ISSN 0099-2240
Publisher:
American Society for MicrobiologyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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