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Environment and host as large-scale controls of ectomycorrhizal fungi

van der Linde, Sietse; Suz, Laura M.; Orme, C. David L.; Cox, Filipa; Andreae, Henning; Asi, Endla; Atkinson, Bonnie; Benham, Sue; Carroll, Christopher; Cools, Nathalie; De Vos, Bruno; Dietrich, Hans-Peter; Eichhorn, Johannes; Gehrmann, Joachim; Grebenc, Tine; Gweon, Hyun S.; Hansen, Karin; Jacob, Frank; Kristöfel, Ferdinand; Lech, Paweł; Manninger, Miklós; Martin, Jan; Meesenburg, Henning; Merilä, Päivi; Nicolas, Manuel; Pavlenda, Pavel; Rautio, Pasi; Schaub, Marcus; Schröck, Hans-Werner; Seidling, Walter; Šrámek, Vít; Thimonier, Anne; Thomsen, Iben Margrete; Titeux, Hugues; Vanguelova, Elena; Verstraeten, Arne; Vesterdal, Lars; Waldner, Peter; Wijk, Sture; Zhang, Yuxin; Žlindra, Daniel; Bidartondo, Martin I.. 2018 Environment and host as large-scale controls of ectomycorrhizal fungi. Nature, 558 (7709). 243-248. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0189-9

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Abstract/Summary

Explaining the large-scale diversity of soil organisms that drive biogeochemical processes—and their responses to environmental change—is critical. However, identifying consistent drivers of belowground diversity and abundance for some soil organisms at large spatial scales remains problematic. Here we investigate a major guild, the ectomycorrhizal fungi, across European forests at a spatial scale and resolution that is—to our knowledge—unprecedented, to explore key biotic and abiotic predictors of ectomycorrhizal diversity and to identify dominant responses and thresholds for change across complex environmental gradients. We show the effect of 38 host, environment, climate and geographical variables on ectomycorrhizal diversity, and define thresholds of community change for key variables. We quantify host specificity and reveal plasticity in functional traits involved in soil foraging across gradients. We conclude that environmental and host factors explain most of the variation in ectomycorrhizal diversity, that the environmental thresholds used as major ecosystem assessment tools need adjustment and that the importance of belowground specificity and plasticity has previously been underappreciated.

Item Type: Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI): https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0189-9
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas: UKCEH Fellows
ISSN: 0028-0836
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.: Publisher link (see Related URLs) provides a full text, view-only copy of the final paper.
Additional Keywords: forest ecology, fungal ecology, macroecology, microbial ecology, plant symbiosis
NORA Subject Terms: Ecology and Environment
Biology and Microbiology
Related URLs:
Date made live: 12 Jun 2018 13:23 +0 (UTC)
URI: https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/520261

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