Summary• Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal communities of Douglas-fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii ) and paper birch ( Betula papyrifera ) were studied along a chronosequence of forest development after stand-replacing disturbance. Previous studies of ECM succession did not use molecular techniques for fungal identification or lacked replication, and none examined different host species.• Four age classes of mixed forests were sampled: 5-, 26-, 65-, and 100-yr-old, including wildfire-origin stands from all four classes and stands of clearcut origin from the youngest two classes. Morphotyping and DNA sequences were used to identify fungi on ECM root tips.• ECM fungal diversities were lower in 5-yr-old than in older stands on Douglas-fir, but were similar among age classes on paper birch. Host-specific fungi dominated in 5-yr-old stands, but host generalists were dominant in the oldest two age classes. ECM fungal community compositions were similar in 65-and 100-yr-old stands but differed among all other pairs of age classes.• Within the age range studied, site-level ECM fungal diversity reached a plateau by the 26-yr-old age class, while community composition stabilized by the 65-yr-old class. Simple categories such as 'early stage', 'multi stage', and 'late stage' were insufficient to describe fungal species' successional patterns. Rather, ECM fungal succession may be best described in the context of stand development.

Summary1. Clearcut logging results in major changes in ectomycorrhizal fungal communities, but whether this results in the loss of key functional traits, such as those associated with nutrient acquisition from soil organic matter, is unknown. Furthermore, little is known about the importance of resource partitioning in structuring ectomycorrhizal fungal communities following disturbance because most research on these communities has focussed on life history strategies. By studying functional traits, such as activities of enzymes involved in the catabolism of organic macromolecules in soil, we can determine whether a physiological potential for resource partitioning exists in pioneer ectomycorrhizal communities and whether severe disturbance affects these important ecosystem services. 2. We used activities of key hydrolytic enzymes in the ectomycorrhizospheres of Douglas-fir seedlings regenerating at clearcut sites as a functional trait to test whether these differed from those at recent wildfire sites or control forests. We sampled the most abundant types of ectomycorrhizas from 16-month-old seedlings from sites exposed to (i) low or (ii) high severity wildfire, (iii) sites that had been clearcut logged in the same year as the fire and (iv) sites that contained control stands of mature Douglas-fir. We expected differences in activities among ectomycorrhizas sampled from different disturbance treatments and among those formed by different fungal species. 3. In spite of large differences in soil chemistry, activities of acid phosphomonoesterase, N-acetylglucosaminidase and b-glucosidase, when averaged among the ectomycorrhizas sampled per site, were not affected by disturbance agent. However, activities varied up to sixfold among mycorrhizospheres of different fungal species on the same seedling. Multivariate analysis also indicated some consistent differences in enzyme profiles among ectomycorrhizas formed by specific fungal species, independent of treatment. 4. The finding that ectomycorrhizal fungal communities exposed to different disturbance agents are functionally similar with respect to the activities of three mycorrhizosphere enzymes supports the conclusion that complementarity exists among ectomycorrhizal fungi. The substantial physiological diversity among ectomycorrhizal fungi at the scale of an individual seedling's root tips, especially at control mature forests, indicates the potential for resource partitioning within the ectomycorrhizal community and access to a wider range of nutrient sources by each seedling. 5. Functional similarity among ectomycorrhizal fungal communities across a disturbance severity gradient suggests that dry interior Douglas-fir forests are resilient to severe disturbances such as high severity wildfire and clearcutting with forest floor removal. Moreover, our results suggest that current harvesting practices emulate natural disturbances with respect to site-level mycorrhizosphere enzyme activity. The large variation in activity among fungal species, however, 2010, 24, 1139-...

SummarySeparating edaphic impacts on tree distributions from those of climate and geography is notoriously difficult. Aboveground and belowground factors play important roles, and determining their relative contribution to tree success will greatly assist in refining predictive models and forestry strategies in a changing climate.In a common glasshouse, seedlings of interior Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca) from multiple populations were grown in multiple forest soils. Fungicide was applied to half of the seedlings to separate soil fungal and nonfungal impacts on seedling performance. Soils of varying geographic and climatic distance from seed origin were compared, using a transfer function approach.Seedling height and biomass were optimized following seed transfer into drier soils, whereas survival was optimized when elevation transfer was minimised. Fungicide application reduced ectomycorrhizal root colonization by c. 50%, with treated seedlings exhibiting greater survival but reduced biomass.Local adaptation of Douglas-fir populations to soils was mediated by soil fungi to some extent in 56% of soil origin by response variable combinations. Mediation by edaphic factors in general occurred in 81% of combinations. Soil biota, hitherto unaccounted for in climate models, interacts with biogeography to influence plant ranges in a changing climate.