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Title: Experimental warming decreases arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal colonization in prairie plants along a Mediterranean climate gradient

Abstract

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) provide numerous services to their plant symbionts. Understanding climate change effects on AMF, and the resulting plant responses, is crucial for predicting ecosystem responses at regional and global scales. We investigated how the effects of climate change on AMF-plant symbioses are mediated by soil water availability, soil nutrient availability, and vegetation dynamics. We used a combination of a greenhouse experiment and a manipulative climate change experiment embedded within a Mediterranean climate gradient in the Pacific Northwest, USA to examine this question. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to determine the direct and indirect effects of experimental warming on AMF colonization. Warming directly decreased AMF colonization across plant species and across the climate gradient of the study region. Other positive and negative indirect effects of warming, mediated by soil water availability, soil nutrient availability, and vegetation dynamics, canceled each other out. A warming-induced decrease in AMF colonization would likely have substantial consequences for plant communities and ecosystem function. Moreover, predicted increases in more intense droughts and heavier rains for this region could shift the balance among indirect causal pathways, and either exacerbate or mitigate the negative, direct effect of increased temperature on AMF colonization.

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1]
  1. University of Oregon, Eugene, OR (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Univ. of Oregon, Eugene, OR (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
OSTI Identifier:
1904767
Grant/Contract Number:  
FG02-09ER64719
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
PeerJ
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 4; Journal ID: ISSN 2167-8359
Publisher:
PeerJ Inc.
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; Mediterranean; Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; plant-nutrient interactions; climate change; structural equation models; experimental warming; nutrient availability; Pacific Northwest

Citation Formats

Wilson, Hannah, Johnson, Bart R., Bohannan, Brendan, Pfeifer-Meister, Laurel, Mueller, Rebecca, and Bridgham, Scott D. Experimental warming decreases arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal colonization in prairie plants along a Mediterranean climate gradient. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.7717/peerj.2083.
Wilson, Hannah, Johnson, Bart R., Bohannan, Brendan, Pfeifer-Meister, Laurel, Mueller, Rebecca, & Bridgham, Scott D. Experimental warming decreases arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal colonization in prairie plants along a Mediterranean climate gradient. United States. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2083
Wilson, Hannah, Johnson, Bart R., Bohannan, Brendan, Pfeifer-Meister, Laurel, Mueller, Rebecca, and Bridgham, Scott D. 2016. "Experimental warming decreases arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal colonization in prairie plants along a Mediterranean climate gradient". United States. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2083. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1904767.
@article{osti_1904767,
title = {Experimental warming decreases arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal colonization in prairie plants along a Mediterranean climate gradient},
author = {Wilson, Hannah and Johnson, Bart R. and Bohannan, Brendan and Pfeifer-Meister, Laurel and Mueller, Rebecca and Bridgham, Scott D.},
abstractNote = {Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) provide numerous services to their plant symbionts. Understanding climate change effects on AMF, and the resulting plant responses, is crucial for predicting ecosystem responses at regional and global scales. We investigated how the effects of climate change on AMF-plant symbioses are mediated by soil water availability, soil nutrient availability, and vegetation dynamics. We used a combination of a greenhouse experiment and a manipulative climate change experiment embedded within a Mediterranean climate gradient in the Pacific Northwest, USA to examine this question. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to determine the direct and indirect effects of experimental warming on AMF colonization. Warming directly decreased AMF colonization across plant species and across the climate gradient of the study region. Other positive and negative indirect effects of warming, mediated by soil water availability, soil nutrient availability, and vegetation dynamics, canceled each other out. A warming-induced decrease in AMF colonization would likely have substantial consequences for plant communities and ecosystem function. Moreover, predicted increases in more intense droughts and heavier rains for this region could shift the balance among indirect causal pathways, and either exacerbate or mitigate the negative, direct effect of increased temperature on AMF colonization.},
doi = {10.7717/peerj.2083},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1904767}, journal = {PeerJ},
issn = {2167-8359},
number = ,
volume = 4,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Wed Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}

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