Environment and host as large-scale controls of ectomycorrhizal fungi
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Explaining the large-scale diversity of soil organisms that drive biogeochemical processes-and their responses to environmental change-is critical. However, identifying consistent drivers of belowground diversity and abundance for some soil organisms at large spatial scales remains problematic. Here we investigate a major guild, the ectomycorrhizal fungi, across European forests at a spatial scale and resolution that is-to our knowledge-unprecedented, to explore key biotic and abiotic predictors of ectomycorrhizal diversity and to identify dominant responses and thresholds for change across complex environmental gradients. We show the effect of 38 host, environment, climate and geographical variables on ectomycorrhizal diversity, and define thresholds of community change for key variables. We quantify host specificity and reveal plasticity in functional traits involved in soil foraging across gradients. We conclude that environmental and host factors explain most of the variation in ectomycorrhizal diversity, that the environmental thresholds used as major ecosystem assessment tools need adjustment and that the importance of belowground specificity and plasticity has previously been underappreciated.
Date Issued
2018-06-06
Date Acceptance
2018-05-02
Citation
Nature, 2018, 558, pp.243-248
ISSN
0028-0836
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Start Page
243
End Page
248
Journal / Book Title
Nature
Volume
558
Copyright Statement
© 2018 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature. All rights reserved.
Sponsor
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29875410
PII: 10.1038/s41586-018-0189-9
Grant Number
NE/K006339/1
Subjects
Science & Technology
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Science & Technology - Other Topics
SPECIES-AREA RELATIONSHIP
NITROGEN CRITICAL LOADS
FORAGING STRATEGIES
MICROBIAL DIVERSITY
COMMUNITY STRUCTURE
MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI
FOREST ECOSYSTEMS
EUROPEAN FORESTS
SEQUENCE DATA
DEPOSITION
Biodiversity
Europe
Forests
Fungi
Geographic Mapping
Host Microbial Interactions
Mycorrhizae
Soil Microbiology
Fungi
Mycorrhizae
Soil Microbiology
Biodiversity
Europe
Geographic Mapping
Forests
Host Microbial Interactions
General Science & Technology
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
England
Date Publish Online
2018-06-06