Fire-severity effects on plant–fungal interactions after a novel tundra wildfire disturbance: implications for arctic shrub and tree migration

Background Vegetation change in high latitude tundra ecosystems is expected to accelerate due to increased wildfire activity. High-severity fires increase the availability of mineral soil seedbeds, which facilitates recruitment, yet fire also alters soil microbial composition, which could significan...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMC ecology Vol. 16; no. 1; p. 25
Main Authors: Hewitt, Rebecca E., Hollingsworth, Teresa N., Stuart Chapin III, F., Lee Taylor, D.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London BioMed Central 11.05.2016
BioMed Central Ltd
Subjects:
Arctic region
Arctic Regions
Biomass
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biota
Community
Composition
Ecological effects
Ecology
ecosystems
Environmental aspects
Experiments
fire severity
Flowers & plants
Forest & brush fires
fungal communities
Fungi
Fungi - physiology
Growth chambers
Hypotheses
Influence
Inoculum
latitude
Life Sciences
Microorganisms
mineral soils
Mycorrhizas
Natural history
Pathogens
Plant Physiological Phenomena
Plant species
Plants - microbiology
population and macroecology
Research Article
seedbeds
seedling growth
Seedlings
Seeds
shrubs
soil biota
Soil investigations
Soil microbiology
Soil microorganisms
Soils
Taiga & tundra
Trees
Trees - microbiology
Trees - physiology
Tundra
Tundra ecology
Vegetation
Wildfires
Arctic
Alaska
United States > US
Arctic region
Climate change
Arctic tundra
Treeline
Fungal internal transcribed spacer (ITS)
Fire severity
Shrub expansion
ARISA
Alnus viridis
Picea mariana
ISSN:1472-6785, 1472-6785
Online Access:Get full text
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Description
Summary:Background Vegetation change in high latitude tundra ecosystems is expected to accelerate due to increased wildfire activity. High-severity fires increase the availability of mineral soil seedbeds, which facilitates recruitment, yet fire also alters soil microbial composition, which could significantly impact seedling establishment. Results We investigated the effects of fire severity on soil biota and associated effects on plant performance for two plant species predicted to expand into Arctic tundra. We inoculated seedlings in a growth chamber experiment with soils collected from the largest tundra fire recorded in the Arctic and used molecular tools to characterize root-associated fungal communities. Seedling biomass was significantly related to the composition of fungal inoculum. Biomass decreased as fire severity increased and the proportion of pathogenic fungi increased. Conclusions Our results suggest that effects of fire severity on soil biota reduces seedling performance and thus we hypothesize that in certain ecological contexts fire-severity effects on plant–fungal interactions may dampen the expected increases in tree and shrub establishment after tundra fire.
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ISSN:1472-6785
1472-6785
DOI:10.1186/s12898-016-0075-y