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Responses of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to long-term inorganic and organic nutrient addition in a lowland tropical forest

Sheldrake, Merlin ; Rosenstock, Nicholas P. LU ; Mangan, Scott ; Revillini, Daniel ; Sayer, Emma J. ; Olsson, Pål Axel LU ; Verbruggen, Erik ; Tanner, Edmund V.J. ; Turner, Benjamin L. and Wright, S. Joseph (2018) In ISME Journal 12(10). p.2433-2445
Abstract

Improved understanding of the nutritional ecology of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi is important in understanding how tropical forests maintain high productivity on low-fertility soils. Relatively little is known about how AM fungi will respond to changes in nutrient inputs in tropical forests, which hampers our ability to assess how forest productivity will be influenced by anthropogenic change. Here we assessed the influence of long-term inorganic and organic nutrient additions and nutrient depletion on AM fungi, using two adjacent experiments in a lowland tropical forest in Panama. We characterised AM fungal communities in soil and roots using 454-pyrosequencing, and quantified AM fungal abundance using microscopy and a lipid... (More)

Improved understanding of the nutritional ecology of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi is important in understanding how tropical forests maintain high productivity on low-fertility soils. Relatively little is known about how AM fungi will respond to changes in nutrient inputs in tropical forests, which hampers our ability to assess how forest productivity will be influenced by anthropogenic change. Here we assessed the influence of long-term inorganic and organic nutrient additions and nutrient depletion on AM fungi, using two adjacent experiments in a lowland tropical forest in Panama. We characterised AM fungal communities in soil and roots using 454-pyrosequencing, and quantified AM fungal abundance using microscopy and a lipid biomarker. Phosphorus and nitrogen addition reduced the abundance of AM fungi to a similar extent, but affected community composition in different ways. Nutrient depletion (removal of leaf litter) had a pronounced effect on AM fungal community composition, affecting nearly as many OTUs as phosphorus addition. The addition of nutrients in organic form (leaf litter) had little effect on any AM fungal parameter. Soil AM fungal communities responded more strongly to changes in nutrient availability than communities in roots. This suggests that the ‘dual niches’ of AM fungi in soil versus roots are structured to different degrees by abiotic environmental filters, and biotic filters imposed by the plant host. Our findings indicate that AM fungal communities are fine-tuned to nutrient regimes, and support future studies aiming to link AM fungal community dynamics with ecosystem function.

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; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
ISME Journal
volume
12
issue
10
pages
2433 - 2445
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • scopus:85048507754
  • pmid:29899509
ISSN
1751-7362
DOI
10.1038/s41396-018-0189-7
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
92187709-6c14-4a18-a64c-23304ed622e5
date added to LUP
2018-06-28 15:12:22
date last changed
2024-04-15 09:50:01
@article{92187709-6c14-4a18-a64c-23304ed622e5,
  abstract     = {{<p>Improved understanding of the nutritional ecology of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi is important in understanding how tropical forests maintain high productivity on low-fertility soils. Relatively little is known about how AM fungi will respond to changes in nutrient inputs in tropical forests, which hampers our ability to assess how forest productivity will be influenced by anthropogenic change. Here we assessed the influence of long-term inorganic and organic nutrient additions and nutrient depletion on AM fungi, using two adjacent experiments in a lowland tropical forest in Panama. We characterised AM fungal communities in soil and roots using 454-pyrosequencing, and quantified AM fungal abundance using microscopy and a lipid biomarker. Phosphorus and nitrogen addition reduced the abundance of AM fungi to a similar extent, but affected community composition in different ways. Nutrient depletion (removal of leaf litter) had a pronounced effect on AM fungal community composition, affecting nearly as many OTUs as phosphorus addition. The addition of nutrients in organic form (leaf litter) had little effect on any AM fungal parameter. Soil AM fungal communities responded more strongly to changes in nutrient availability than communities in roots. This suggests that the ‘dual niches’ of AM fungi in soil versus roots are structured to different degrees by abiotic environmental filters, and biotic filters imposed by the plant host. Our findings indicate that AM fungal communities are fine-tuned to nutrient regimes, and support future studies aiming to link AM fungal community dynamics with ecosystem function.</p>}},
  author       = {{Sheldrake, Merlin and Rosenstock, Nicholas P. and Mangan, Scott and Revillini, Daniel and Sayer, Emma J. and Olsson, Pål Axel and Verbruggen, Erik and Tanner, Edmund V.J. and Turner, Benjamin L. and Wright, S. Joseph}},
  issn         = {{1751-7362}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  number       = {{10}},
  pages        = {{2433--2445}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{ISME Journal}},
  title        = {{Responses of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to long-term inorganic and organic nutrient addition in a lowland tropical forest}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41396-018-0189-7}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41396-018-0189-7}},
  volume       = {{12}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}