Trait‐based aerial dispersal of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

Abstract

Summary Dispersal is a key process driving local‐scale community assembly and global‐scale biogeography of plant symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal communities. A trait‐based approach could improve predictions regarding how AM fungal aerial dispersal varies by species. We conducted month‐long collections of aerial AM fungi for 12 consecutive months in an urban mesic environment at heights of 20 m. We measured morphological functional traits of collected spores and assessed aerial AM fungal community structure both morphologically and with high‐throughput sequencing. Large numbers of AM fungal spores were present in the air over the course of 1 yr, and these spores exhibited traits that facilitate aerial dispersal. Measured aerial spores were smaller than average for Glomeromycotinan fungi. Trait‐based predictions indicate that nearly one third of described species from diverse genera demonstrate the potential for aerial dispersal. Diversity of aerial AM fungi was relatively high (20 spore species and 17 virtual taxa), and both spore abundance and community structure shifted temporally. The prevalence of aerial dispersal in AM fungi is perhaps greater than previously indicated, and a hypothesized model of AM fungal aerial dispersal mechanisms is presented. Anthropogenic soil impacts may liberate AM fungal propagules initiating the dispersal of ruderal species.

Discovering the role of Patagonian birds in the dispersal of truffles and other mycorrhizal fungi

“…1 For many theoretical frameworks in ecology, such as the theory of island biogeography, 2 the neutral theory, 3 the meta-community theory, 4 and the historical contingency theory, 5 dispersal is recognized as a critical process that generates variability in community assembly. Dispersal ability is highly variable between species 6,7 and therefore generates predictable patterns of community assembly. 8,9 The ''everything is everywhere'' hypothesis 10 postulates that dispersal is unimportant in structuring microbial communities and that these communities are instead determined by environmental factors.…”

Contrasting responses of above- and belowground diversity to multiple components of land-use intensity

“…If belowground communities are shaped by dispersal processes, then the factors driving habitat quality and connectivity may differ from those aboveground. For instance, instead of the linear features, which allow animal movement between habitat patches 43 , it may be the quantity of historically undisturbed soil habitat in the landscape that determines recolonization rates of wind dispersed species [44][45][46][47] , as untilled soils foster more abundant and diverse soil communities 31,48 .…”

Global drivers of obligate mycorrhizal symbionts diversification

“…Large spores might limit dispersal at smaller (e.g. intra-continental) scales in AMF 20,63 , but this does not seem to affect diversification.…”