Temporal variation of mycorrhization rates in a tree diversity experiment

Heklau, Heike; Schindler, Nicole; Eisenhauer, Nico; Ferlian, Olga; Bruelheide, Helge

doi:10.1002/ece3.10002

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…At our experimental site, trees consistently preferred one mycorrhizal type but also exhibited mycorrhization of the opposite type, with rates varying throughout the season (Ferlian et al, 2021;Heklau et al, 2021Heklau et al, , 2023. Mycorrhizal spillover effects from neighbouring host tree species may affect EM and AM synchrony (Dickie et al, 2001), altering mycorrhization rates and fungal composition at the community level (Heklau et al, 2023), which could potentially lead to the observed positive effects of mycorrhizal type mixing.…”

Section: Mycorrhizal Types Modulate Drought Responsesmentioning

confidence: 83%

Forest growth resistance and resilience to the 2018–2020 drought depend on tree diversity and mycorrhizal type

Sachsenmaier,

Schnabel,

Dietrich

et al. 2024

Journal of Ecology

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The frequency of consecutive drought years is predicted to increase due to climate change. These droughts have strong negative impacts on forest ecosystems. Mixing tree species is proposed to increase the drought resistance and resilience of tree communities. However, this promising diversity effect has not yet been investigated under extreme drought conditions and in the context of complementary mycorrhizal associations and their potential role in improving water uptake. Here, we investigate whether tree diversity promotes growth resistance and resilience to extreme drought and whether drought responses are modulated by mycorrhizal associations. We used inventory data (2015–2021) from a young tree diversity experiment in Germany, manipulating tree species richness (1, 2 and 4 species) and mycorrhizal type (communities containing arbuscular mycorrhizal [AM] or ectomycorrhizal [EM] tree species, or both). For all tree communities, we calculated basal area increment in the periods before, during and after drought and used the concepts of resistance and resilience to quantify growth responses to drought. We found strong growth declines during the extreme 2018–2020 drought for most tree communities. Contrary to our hypothesis, we did not find that tree species richness per se can buffer the negative impacts of extreme drought on tree growth. However, while for EM communities, drought resistance and resilience decreased with tree species richness, they increased for AM communities and communities comprising both mycorrhizal types. We highlight that among various mixtures of tree species, only those with mixed mycorrhizal types outperformed their respective monocultures during and after drought. Furthermore, under extreme drought, the community tends to segregate into ‘winner’ and ‘loser’ tree species in terms of diversity, indicating a possible intensification of competition. While we cannot disentangle the underlying mechanisms or clarify the role of mycorrhiza during drought, our findings suggest that mixtures of mycorrhizal types within tree communities could help safeguard forests against increasing drought frequency. Synthesis. Drought resistance and resilience of tree communities depend on tree diversity and mycorrhizal association types. Mixing tree species with diverse mycorrhizal types holds promise for forest restoration in the face of climate change.

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Section: Mycorrhizal Types Modulate Drought Responsesmentioning

confidence: 83%

Forest growth resistance and resilience to the 2018–2020 drought depend on tree diversity and mycorrhizal type

Sachsenmaier,

Schnabel,

Dietrich

et al. 2024

Journal of Ecology

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“…Even though trees can interact with different types of mycorrhizal fungi simultaneously (Heklau et al, 2021(Heklau et al, , 2023, species have a preferred type of mycorrhizal partner (Brundrett & Tedersoo, 2018) and, thus, they are classified depending on the mycorrhizal host types as arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) or ectomycorrhizal (EM) trees.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tree and mycorrhizal fungal diversity drive intraspecific and intraindividual trait variation in temperate forests: Evidence from a tree diversity experiment

Castro Sánchez‐Bermejo,

Monjau,

Goldmann

et al. 2024

Functional Ecology

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The study of tree species coexistence is crucial to understand the assembly of forest communities. In this context, trees adjust their traits in response to the interactions with other trees and, specifically, as a result of the competition for resources. Further, mycorrhizal fungal diversity and associations are important drivers of ecosystem functioning in forests, but their role as drivers of intraspecific trait variation has been disregarded. Here, we studied intraspecific trait variation of trees in response to tree and mycorrhizal fungal diversity. We sampled 3200 leaves from 640 trees belonging to 10 native, deciduous species in a tree diversity experiment in Central Germany. This experiment relies on the combination of gradients of tree richness and mycorrhizal associations. To handle large amounts of leaf samples, we acquired leaf‐level spectral data and used deep learning to predict values for five leaf traits from the leaf economics spectrum (LES): specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, carbon to nitrogen ratio, carbon content and phosphorus content. For every tree, we calculated the mean value for every trait and two multi‐trait functional indices (functional richness and functional dispersion) based on values for individual leaves. Finally, we used sequencing‐based data to assess the richness of mycorrhizal fungi associated with the trees. We found that tree and mycorrhizal fungi richness had an effect on different leaf functional traits. Specifically, tree richness positively affected specific leaf area and, additionally, had a negative effect on the functional indicies, which revealed that the phenotypic diversity within the tree crown decreased with tree species richness. In addition, leaf carbon to nitrogen ratio decreased with increasing arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal richness in both arbuscular and ectomycorrhizal tree species. Finally, we did not find differences between arbuscular and ectomycorrhizal trees regarding their location within the LES. Our results suggest that trees modify their strategy in response to local tree diversity, not only by shifting trait values but also by shifting the variability intraindividually. In addition, higher mycorrhizal fungal diversity does not seem to lead to higher complementarity, but instead, tree and mycorrhizal fungi affect different aspects of leaf traits. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

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“…Chestnut trees develop mycorrhizal symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) [20]. Arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) was reported in the roots of seedlings of A. hippocastanum and A. pavia [12], in the roots 2-to 3-year-old A. hippocastanum plants [21,22] and in the roots of mature trees of A. hippocastanum L. [23][24][25][26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…So far, no long-term observations (lasting for several growing seasons) of mycorrhizal colonization of mature A. hippocastanum roots have been conducted. The seasonality of mycorrhizal colonization of A. hippocastanum roots was only investigated in a field experiment with 2-3-year-old seedlings of this species in two growing seasons [22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-Term Monitoring Studies of the Mycorrhizal Colonization of Aesculus hippocastanum L. Roots and the Vitality of Soil Microorganisms in Urban and Non-Urban Environments

Tyburska-Woś,

Kieliszewska-Rokicka

2023

Forests

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Stress factors typical in urban environments adversely affect the productivity and vigor of trees and may limit the development of tree roots with associated soil fungi and bacteria. Studies on mycorrhizal symbiosis and the activity of soil microorganisms are important in monitoring the adaptation of trees to urban conditions. We compared the symbiotic activity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) living in the rhizosphere of mature white chestnut trees (Aesculus hippocastanum L.) in an urban ecosystem at sites with varying degrees of anthropopressure and in a rural area. We used two methods: (1) direct analysis of the root samples, (2) assessment of the colonization of trap plants grown in the soil taken from under selected white horse chestnut trees. The seasonality of mycorrhizal colonization and soil microbial respiration based on the enzyme activity of nonspecific dehydrogenase (DHA) was studied over several growing seasons. The concentrations of macronutrients in the soil from all study sites were in the ranges accepted as normal for the upper soil layer. However, the C/N ratio indicated carbon limitation in the soil at urban and rural study sites. The results showed that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi indigenous in the rhizosphere of A. hippocastanum developed a functioning mycorrhizal symbiosis at all research sites, including at highly disturbed urban locations, and that the mycorrhizal colonization varied between the study sites and the research term. The trap culture method confirmed the high biological potential of the soil microbial community, including AMF in urban ecosystems, which was comparable to that at the reference site in the rural environment. Soil moisture strongly affected the overall soil microbial vitality. This research showed that the mycorrhizal status of A. hippocastanum is more strongly influenced by climatic conditions and seasonal rhythms of trees than by urban/non-urban locations.

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Temporal variation of mycorrhization rates in a tree diversity experiment

Abstract: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cited by 4 publications

References 72 publications

Forest growth resistance and resilience to the 2018–2020 drought depend on tree diversity and mycorrhizal type

Forest growth resistance and resilience to the 2018–2020 drought depend on tree diversity and mycorrhizal type

Tree and mycorrhizal fungal diversity drive intraspecific and intraindividual trait variation in temperate forests: Evidence from a tree diversity experiment

Long-Term Monitoring Studies of the Mycorrhizal Colonization of Aesculus hippocastanum L. Roots and the Vitality of Soil Microorganisms in Urban and Non-Urban Environments

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