"Responses of Soil Microorganisms and Microbial Mediated Processes During Succession to Elevated CO2 in Mediterranean-Type Ecosystems".
Summary Hypothesis 1. Mycorrhizal fungal types, diversity and activity will increase under elevated CO2. Generally activity increased and composition changed. No change in types was observed. It is important to note that overall nutrient cycling was affected by elevated CO2, largely by increasing turnover, not standing crop. These changes were not apparent at any one sampling date, but could only be determined over the longer course of the experiment. Hypothesis 2. Mycorrhizal fungal types, diversity and activity will decrease under NOx addition. Mycorrhizae showed no change in the % infection of mycorrhizae. However, the species composition changed and the relative form of N predominating changed, as increasing N turnover was apparent. Hypothesis 3. Mycorrhizal fungal types, diversity and activity will decline precipitously under elevated CO2 coupled with NOx additions. There are no CO2 X NOx field study facilities in our region. However, we undertook some small-scale plot fertilization studies. At the Michigan open-topped chambers, and in growth chamber studies we found that added N plus CO2 increased the allocation of C to the bacterial food web causing more rapid nutrient cycling and fewer mycorrhizae. Preliminary results indicate that the NO3 fertilization overwhelmed any CO2 effect and no significant interactions were found. We will re-evaluate how to undertake these studies. Hypothesis 4. Mycorrhizal fungal types, diversity and activity will decline under El Nino years and during La Nina years compared with more ?normal? years. Mycorrhizal activity was dramatically affected by precipitation. During wet, El Nino years, EM predominated with a shift to AM during dry, La Nina years. The total amount of fungal hyphae was higher during wetter years. These data suggest that understanding mycorrhizae by climate/CO2/ NOx interactions will be crucial in determining the patterns and rates of nutrient and carbon dynamics in ecosystems.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of California, Riverside, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC); Division of Enivironmental Sciences, ER-74
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG03-99ER62756
- OSTI ID:
- 791463
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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