Plant Species Richness and the Root Economics Space Drive Soil Fungal Communities

ABSTRACT Trait‐based approaches have been increasingly used to relate plants to soil microbial communities. Using the recently described root economics space as an approach to explain the structure of soil‐borne fungal communities, our study in a grassland diversity experiment reveals distinct root...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecology letters Vol. 28; no. 1; pp. e70032 - n/a
Main Authors: Hennecke, Justus, Bassi, Leonardo, Albracht, Cynthia, Amyntas, Angelos, Bergmann, Joana, Eisenhauer, Nico, Fox, Aaron, Heimbold, Lea, Heintz‐Buschart, Anna, Kuyper, Thomas W., Lange, Markus, Pinheiro Alves de Souza, Yuri, Rai, Akanksha, Solbach, Marcel Dominik, Mommer, Liesje, Weigelt, Alexandra
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.01.2025
John Wiley and Sons Inc
Subjects:
arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
Biodiversity
Biomass
collaboration gradient
Composition effects
Ecological function
Economics
ecosystems
fungal biomass
Fungi
Fungi - physiology
Grassland
Grasslands
Guilds
Letter
Microbial activity
Microorganisms
Mycobiome
pathogenic fungi
Plant communities
Plant Roots - microbiology
Plant species
Plants - microbiology
plant–fungi interactions
root economics space
root traits
saprotrophic fungi
saprotrophs
soil
Soil conservation
soil fungi
Soil Microbiology
Soil microorganisms
Soil structure
Soils
Species richness
trait‐based
Wildlife conservation
root economics space
root traits
arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
trait‐based
plant–fungi interactions
saprotrophic fungi
pathogenic fungi
collaboration gradient
ISSN:1461-023X, 1461-0248, 1461-0248
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:ABSTRACT Trait‐based approaches have been increasingly used to relate plants to soil microbial communities. Using the recently described root economics space as an approach to explain the structure of soil‐borne fungal communities, our study in a grassland diversity experiment reveals distinct root trait strategies at the plant community level. In addition to significant effects of plant species richness, we show that the collaboration and conservation gradient are strong drivers of the composition of the different guilds of soil fungi. Saprotrophic fungi are most diverse in species‐rich plant communities with ‘slow’ root traits, whereas plant pathogenic fungi are most diverse and abundant in communities with ‘fast’ and ‘DIY’ root traits. Fungal biomass is strongly driven by plant species richness. Our results illustrate that the root economics space and plant species richness jointly determine the effects of plants on soil fungal communities and their potential role in plant fitness and ecosystem functioning. Soil fungi are critical for plants and ecosystems but are also affected by the vegetation itself. Here, we show how an experimental gradient of plant species richness and community fine root traits drive the diversity and abundance of soil fungal guilds. We highlight that fungal biomass is determined by plant biomass and plant species richness, whereas the diversity and relative abundance of individual fungal guilds are linked to the fine root traits of the plant community.
Bibliography:This work was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (FOR 5000, FZT 118, 202548816).
Funding
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Editor: Richard Bardgett
Funding: This work was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (FOR 5000, FZT 118, 202548816).
ISSN:1461-023X
1461-0248
1461-0248
DOI:10.1111/ele.70032