Title: The complex circuitry of interactions determining coexistence among plants and mycorrhizal fungi

Journal Article · · Ecology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.4281 · OSTI ID:2524101

We present a mechanistic model of coexistence among a mycorrhizal fungus and one or two plant species that compete for a single nutrient. Plant–fungal coexistence is more likely if the fungus is better at extracting the environmental nutrient than the plant and the fungus acquires carbon from the plant above a minimum rate. When they coexist, their interaction can shift from mutualistic to parasitic at high nutrient availability. The fungus is a second nutrient source for plants and can promote the coexistence of two plant competitors if one is better at environmental nutrient extraction and the other is better at acquiring the nutrient from the fungus. Because it extracts carbon from both plants, the fungus also serves as a conduit of apparent competition between the plants. Consequently, the plant with the lower environmental nutrient extraction rate can drive the plant with the higher environmental nutrient extraction rate extinct at high carbon supply rates. Furthermore, this model illustrates mechanisms to explain several observed patterns, including shifts in plant–mycorrhizal growth responses and coexistence along nutrient gradients, equivocal results among experiments testing the effect of mycorrhizal fungi on plant diversity, and differences in plant diversity among ecosystems dominated by different mycorrhizal groups.

Research Organization:
Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER). Earth & Environmental Systems Science (EESS)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0020228
OSTI ID:
2524101
Journal Information:
Ecology, Journal Name: Ecology Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 105; ISSN 0012-9658
Publisher:
WileyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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