Fungal Taxa Target Different Carbon Sources in Forest Soil

Hanson, China A.; Allison, Steven D.; Bradford, Mark A.; Wallenstein, Matthew D.; Treseder, Kathleen K.

doi:10.1007/s10021-008-9186-4

Cited by 187 publications

(129 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…The FH horizon in our spruce soils contained 64% SOM, almost half of which was cellulose and hemicellulose (data not shown). However, the most abundant saprotroph in our systems, Mortierella spp., is an inefficient decomposer of cellulose, exhibiting very little b-glucosidase activity (Hanson et al, 2008;Allison et al, 2009). The significantly lower b-glucosidase activity in our saprotroph-dominated hyphal traps is likely related to the abundant (50% of the total sequences) Mortierella spp.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Ectomycorrhizal fungi contribute to soil organic matter cycling in sub-boreal forests

2013

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Soils of northern temperate and boreal forests represent a large terrestrial carbon (C) sink. The fate of this C under elevated atmospheric CO 2 and climate change is still uncertain. A fundamental knowledge gap is the extent to which ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) and saprotrophic fungi contribute to C cycling in the systems by soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition. In this study, we used a novel approach to generate and compare enzymatically active EMF hyphae-dominated and saprotrophic hyphae-enriched communities under field conditions. Fermentation-humus (FH)-filled mesh bags, surrounded by a sand barrier, effectively trapped EMF hyphae with a community structure comparable to that found in the surrounding FH layer, at both trophic and taxonomic levels. In contrast, over half the sequences from mesh bags with no sand barrier were identified as belonging to saprotrophic fungi. The EMF hyphae-dominated systems exhibited levels of hydrolytic and oxidative enzyme activities that were comparable to or higher than saprotroph-enriched systems. The enzymes assayed included those associated with both labile and recalcitrant SOM degradation. Our study shows that EMF hyphae are likely important contributors to current SOM turnover in sub-boreal systems. Our results also suggest that any increased EMF biomass that might result from higher below-ground C allocation by trees would not suppress C fluxes from sub-boreal soils.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Ectomycorrhizal fungi contribute to soil organic matter cycling in sub-boreal forests

2013

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“…However, EcM fungi are known to produce abundant extracellular enzymes that differ among EcM fungal species [92,103], so it is likely that a fraction of the enzymatic activity detected in the soil was derived from EcM foraging. Decomposer fungi are also known to differ in their physiological capacities [104,105]; thus, it is likely that the differences in extracellular enzyme activity across land-use types will be reflected in other fungal-mediated nutrient cycling processes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Responses of Soil Fungi to Logging and Oil Palm Agriculture in Southeast Asian Tropical Forests

et al. 2014

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Human land use alters soil microbial composition and function in a variety of systems, although few comparable studies have been done in tropical forests and tropical agricultural production areas. Logging and the expansion of oil palm agriculture are two of the most significant drivers of tropical deforestation, and the latter is most prevalent in Southeast Asia. The aim of this study was to compare soil fungal communities from three sites in Malaysia that represent three of the most dominant land-use types in the Southeast Asia tropics: a primary forest, a regenerating forest that had been selectively logged 50 years previously, and a 25-year-old oil palm plantation. Soil cores were collected from three replicate plots at each site, and fungal communities were sequenced using the Illumina platform. Extracellular enzyme assays were assessed as a proxy for soil microbial function. We found that fungal communities were distinct across all sites, although fungal composition in the regenerating forest was more similar to the primary forest than either forest community was to the oil palm site. Ectomycorrhizal fungi, which are important associates of the dominant Dipterocarpaceae tree family in this region, were compositionally distinct across forests, but were nearly absent from oil palm soils. Extracellular enzyme assays indicated that the soil ecosystem in oil palm plantations experienced altered nutrient cycling dynamics, but there were few differences between regenerating and primary forest soils. Together, these results show that logging and the replacement of primary forest with oil palm plantations alter fungal community and function, although forests regenerating from logging had more similarities with primary forests in terms of fungal composition and nutrient cycling potential. Since oil palm agriculture is currently the mostly rapidly expanding equatorial crop and logging is pervasive across tropical ecosystems, these findings may have broad applicability.

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“…In addition to saproptrophs, however, different taxa of mycorrhiza fungi are now recognized as targeting different carbon sources, implying niche partitioning. This niche partitioning can help explain why such a dazzling diversity of fungi are involved in carbon and nutrient metabolism in soils (Hansen et al, 2008). It also points to the importance of understanding the diverse roles of plants and fungi in global carbon flux dynamics.…”

Section: Wwwintechopencommentioning

confidence: 84%