Journal
BOTANY
Volume 92, Issue 2, Pages 149-160Publisher
CANADIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING, NRC RESEARCH PRESS
DOI: 10.1139/cjb-2013-0091
Keywords
ectomycorrhizas; rock-eating fungi; plant traits; ecosystem function; nutrient cycling; density dependence
Categories
Funding
- Marsden Fund of the Royal Society of New Zealand
- Core funding for Crown Research Institutes from the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's Science and Innovation Group
- Bio-Protection Research Centre of Lincoln University
- Division Of Environmental Biology
- Direct For Biological Sciences [0949550] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Ecosystems change between arbuscular mycorrhizal and ectomycorrhizal vegetation dominance over anthropological and geological time scales, yet consequences for ecosystem function are unclear. We review four hypotheses for the effect of mycorrhizal status on ecosystem function. Specifically, that differences between ectomycorrhizal and arbuscular mycorrhizal dominated ecosystems are driven by (1) foliar trait differences, (2) positive plant-soil feedback in ectomycorrhizal plants, (3) differences in the ability to dissolve rocks as a source of nutrition, and (4) differences in the ability to use organic nutrients. We find no universal difference in foliar traits with mycorrhizal status. A spatial simulation suggests that positive plant-soil feedback in ectomycorrhizal plants is unlikely to drive ecosystem differences. However, negative feedback appears to be more common in arbuscular mycorrhizal trees than ectomycorrhizal trees and may represent an important ecosystem difference. Rock dissolution occurs under both mycorrhizal types but may differ in rate. Hypothesis 4 was the best supported: a model and some field evidence suggest that decoupling of carbon and nutrients in ectomycorrhizal decomposition leads to inhibition of saprotrophic mineralization, with context-dependent effects. Greater understanding of organic nutrient utilization differences may be key to improving incorporation of mycorrhizas in ecosystem ecology.
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