Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1111/ele.70032
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Plant species richness and the root economics space drive soil fungal communities
Author Hennecke, J.; Bassi, L.; Albracht, C.; Amyntas, A.; Bergmann, J.; Eisenhauer, N.; Fox, A.; Heimbold, L.; Heintz-Buschart, A.; Kuyper, T.W.; Lange, M.; Pinheiro Alves de Souza, Y.; Rai, A.; Solbach, M.D.; Mommer, L.; Weigelt, A.
Source Titel Ecology Letters
Year 2025
Department BOOEK
Volume 28
Issue 1
Page From e70032
Language englisch
Topic T5 Future Landscapes
Data and Software links https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13990357
Supplements https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/downloadSupplement?doi=10.1111%2Fele.70032&file=ele70032-sup-0001-DataS1.docx
Keywords arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; collaboration gradient; pathogenic fungi; plant–fungi interactions; root economics space; root traits; saprotrophic fungi trait-based
Abstract Trait-based approaches have been increasingly used to relate plants to soil microbial communities. Using the recently described root economics space as an approach to explain the structure of soil-borne fungal communities, our study in a grassland diversity experiment reveals distinct root trait strategies at the plant community level. In addition to significant effects of plant species richness, we show that the collaboration and conservation gradient are strong drivers of the composition of the different guilds of soil fungi. Saprotrophic fungi are most diverse in species-rich plant communities with ‘slow’ root traits, whereas plant pathogenic fungi are most diverse and abundant in communities with ‘fast’ and ‘DIY’ root traits. Fungal biomass is strongly driven by plant species richness. Our results illustrate that the root economics space and plant species richness jointly determine the effects of plants on soil fungal communities and their potential role in plant fitness and ecosystem functioning.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=30317
Hennecke, J., Bassi, L., Albracht, C., Amyntas, A., Bergmann, J., Eisenhauer, N., Fox, A., Heimbold, L., Heintz-Buschart, A., Kuyper, T.W., Lange, M., Pinheiro Alves de Souza, Y., Rai, A., Solbach, M.D., Mommer, L., Weigelt, A. (2025):
Plant species richness and the root economics space drive soil fungal communities
Ecol. Lett. 28 (1), e70032 10.1111/ele.70032