Disturbance tolerance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi: characterization of life-history strategies along a disturbance gradient in a coastal dune ecosystem

PurposeArbuscular mycorrhizal fungi that regenerate rapidly after disturbance play a significant role in vegetation resilience. We employed the fungi inhabiting a coastal dune ecosystem to characterize their strategies for survival and regeneration after disturbance.MethodsRoot-soil samples were collected from the seaward and landward slopes that differ in disturbance severity. The native grass Miscanthus sinensis (donor plants) were grown in the soil samples for two months, and from a half of the plants, disturbance-tolerant fungi that regenerate from spores and extraradical hyphae (soil propagule-mediated regenerators, SP) and those that regenerate from the colonized roots (root-direct regenerators, RD) were trapped separately with new seedlings (assessment plants). The other half of the donor plants were further grown without destruction for four months together with assessment plants, during which the fungi trapped by the plants were categorized as disturbance-sensitive slow regenerators (SL). DNA was extracted from the assessment plants for identification based on LSU rDNA sequences.ResultsAll the fungi that occurred widely in the seaward samples belonged to the Glomeraceae and Paraglomeraceae and preferred the RD strategy to the SP strategy. In the landward samples diverse taxa that employed diverse strategies occurred, and among them, Gigasporaceae fungi showed a distinct preference for the SP strategy.ConclusionThese observations suggest that not only soil-borne propagules but also colonized roots play a key role in the rapid regeneration of the fungi after disturbance, providing a new insight into the life-history strategies of AM fungi in frequently disturbed environments.

Automated summary

Fungi in coastal dune ecosystems can rapidly regenerate through root-direct regeneration and soil propagule-mediated regeneration strategies. Soil-borne propagules and colonized roots play a crucial role in the rapid regeneration of fungi.