Plant communities affect arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal diversity and community composition in grassland microcosms

Johnson, David A.; Vandenkoornhuyse, Philippe; Leake, Jonathan R.; Gilbert, Lucy; Booth, Rosemary E.; Grime, J. P.; Young, J. Peter W.; Read, David

doi:10.1046/j.1469-8137.2003.00938.x

Cited by 337 publications

(239 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…The changes in vegetation structure and plant diversity resulting from grazing in the degraded grasslands may also influence the AM fungal community (Barni and Siniscalo, 2000;Johnson et al, 2003). However, in the present study neither PSR nor plant diversity (PH 0 ) was negatively affected by grassland degradation (Table I).…”

Section: Influence Of Environmental Variables On Am Fungus Spore Commcontrasting

confidence: 53%

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in degraded typical steppe of inner Mongolia

et al. 2008

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Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi may have some potential use in the restoration of degraded grassland through beneficial effects on plant growth and soil quality. A field investigation was conducted in three grassland sites of typical steppe in Inner Mongolia. The three plant communities, one of which was undegraded, one moderately degraded and the third severely degraded, were studied by collecting soil samples and samples of four plant species that occurred in all three sites. The percentage of root length colonized by AM fungi was estimated and the species composition and diversity of AM fungus spores recovered from the soil were determined using spore morphological characteristics. Although differences between the sites may have been due partly to other factors, it is likely that the degree of degradation was an important factor. No decline was found in the AM colonization of the roots of the indicator plant species in the moderately or severely degraded plant communities, and two plant species showed higher colonization status in the two degraded areas. Glomus geosporum and Scutellospora calospora were the dominant AM fungi in the undegraded steppe, while G. geosporum and Glomus aggregatum dominated the two degraded sites which also had low spore densities, species richness and diversity indices. However, different AM species showed different distributions among the three plant communities and the results indicate that both biotic and abiotic factors were important in determining the AMF communities, with biotic factors possibly the more important.

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Section: Influence Of Environmental Variables On Am Fungus Spore Commcontrasting

confidence: 53%

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in degraded typical steppe of inner Mongolia

et al. 2008

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“…Many of the species used in this experiment also have different phenology and this may also explain some of the variation in soil respiration. Other important biological drivers of soil respiration are arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, which form mutualistic relationships with all plant species used in the mesocosms except the sedges ( Johnson et al 2004). Although rarely considered in models of C fluxes, there is evidence that mycorrhizal fungi can contribute significantly to soil respiration rates by rapidly using recent plant assimilate ( Johnson et al 2002).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant community composition, not diversity, regulates soil respiration in grasslands

2008

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Soil respiration is responsible for recycling considerable quantities of carbon from terrestrial ecosystems to the atmosphere. There is a growing body of evidence that suggests that the richness of plants in a community can have significant impacts on ecosystem functioning, but the specific influences of plant species richness (SR), plant functional-type richness and plant community composition on soil respiration rates are unknown. Here we use 10-yearold model plant communities, comprising mature plants transplanted into natural nonsterile soil, to determine how the diversity and composition of plant communities influence soil respiration rates. Our analysis revealed that soil respiration was driven by plant community composition and that there was no significant effect of biodiversity at the three levels tested (SR, functional group and species per functional group). Above-ground plant biomass and root density were included in the analysis as covariates and found to have no effect on soil respiration. This finding is important, because it suggests that loss of particular species will have the greatest impact on soil respiration, rather than changes in biodiversity per se.

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“…For example, if dominant AM fungi require high resource levels, then a plant's reduction in carbon allocation to roots may increase the persistence of subdominant fungi through competitive release, thereby increasing fungal species richness, despite overall lower abundance of fungi in the roots. In addition, differences in colonization strategies (spores versus runner hyphae) among AM fungi may support higher/lower fungal diversity when fungi are competing for new roots [48]. Finally, domestication could inadvertently have selected for 'generalist' hosts capable of forming symbiosis with a large number of fungi, since these plants were typically moved between sites.…”

Section: Glomus Aamentioning

confidence: 99%

Mutualism breakdown in breadfruit domestication

et al. 2011

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During the process of plant domestication, below-ground communities are rarely considered. Some studies have attempted to understand the changes in root symbionts owing to domestication, but little is known about how it influences mycorrhizal response in domesticated crops. We hypothesized that selection for above-ground traits may also result in decreased mycorrhizal abundance in roots. Breadfruit (Artocarpus sp.) has a long domestication history, with a strong geographical movement of cultivars from west to east across the Melanesian and Polynesian islands. Our results clearly show a decrease in arbuscular mycorrhizas (AMs) along a domestication gradient from wild to recently derived cultivars. We showed that the vesicular and arbuscular colonization rate decreased significantly in more recently derived breadfruit cultivars. In addition, molecular analyses of breadfruit roots indicated that AM fungal species richness also responded along the domestication gradient. These results suggest that human-driven selection for plant cultivars can have unintended effects on below-ground mutualists, with potential impacts on the stress tolerance of crops and long-term food security.

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Plant communities affect arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal diversity and community composition in grassland microcosms

Cited by 337 publications

References 45 publications

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in degraded typical steppe of inner Mongolia

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in degraded typical steppe of inner Mongolia

Plant community composition, not diversity, regulates soil respiration in grasslands

Mutualism breakdown in breadfruit domestication

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