Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1111/mec.15749
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Fungal guilds and soil functionality respond to tree community traits rather than to tree diversity in European forests
Author Prada-Salcedo, L.D.; Goldmann, K. ORCID logo ; Heintz-Buschart, A.; Reitz, T.; Wambsganss, J.; Bauhus, J.; Buscot, F.
Source Titel Molecular Ecology
Year 2021
Department BOOEK; iDiv
Volume 30
Issue 2
Page From 572
Page To 591
Language englisch
Topic T5 Future Landscapes
Supplements https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/downloadSupplement?doi=10.1111%2Fmec.15749&file=mec15749-sup-0001-SupInfo.docx
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/downloadSupplement?doi=10.1111%2Fmec.15749&file=mec15749-sup-0002-DataS1.xlsx
Keywords enzymes activity; fungal diversity; fungal guilds; soil; tree traits; tree‐fungi interactions
Abstract At the global scale, most forest research on biodiversity focuses on aboveground organisms. However, understanding the structural associations between aboveground and belowground communities provides relevant information about important functions linked to biogeochemical cycles. Microorganisms such as soil fungi are known to be closely coupled to the dominant tree vegetation, and we hypothesize that tree traits affect fungal guilds and soil functionality in multiple ways. By analyzing fungal diversity of 64 plots from four European forest types using Illumina DNA sequencing, we show that soil fungal communities respond to tree community traits rather than to tree species diversity. To explain changes in fungal community structure and measured soil enzymatic activities, we used a trait‐based ecological approach and community‐weighted means of tree traits to define “fast” (acquisitive) vs. “slow” (conservative) tree communities. We found specific tree trait effects on different soil fungal guilds and soil enzymatic activities: Tree traits associated with litter and absorptive roots correlated with fungal, especially pathogen diversity, and influenced community composition of soil fungi. Relative abundance of the symbiotrophic and saprotrophic guilds mirrored the litter quality, while the root traits of fast tree communities enhanced symbiotroph abundance. We found that forest types of higher latitudes, which are dominated by fast tree communities, correlated with high carbon‐cycling enzymatic activities. In contrast, Mediterranean forests with slow tree communities showed high enzymatic activities related to nitrogen and phosphorous. Our findings highlight that tree trait effects of either “fast” or “slow” tree communities drive different fungal guilds and influence biogeochemical cycles.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=23937
Prada-Salcedo, L.D., Goldmann, K., Heintz-Buschart, A., Reitz, T., Wambsganss, J., Bauhus, J., Buscot, F. (2021):
Fungal guilds and soil functionality respond to tree community traits rather than to tree diversity in European forests
Mol. Ecol. 30 (2), 572 - 591 10.1111/mec.15749