Habitat- and soil-related drivers of the root-associated fungal community of Quercus suber in the Northern Moroccan forest

Abstract

Soil fungi associated with plant roots, notably ectomycorrhizal (EcM) fungi, are central in above- and below-ground interactions in Mediterranean forests. They are a key component in soil nutrient cycling and plant productivity. Yet, major disturbances of Mediterranean forests, particularly in the Southern Mediterranean basin, are observed due to the greater human pressures and climate changes. These disturbances highly impact forest cover, soil properties and consequently the root-associated fungal communities. The implementation of efficient conservation strategies of Mediterranean forests is thus closely tied to our understanding of root-associated fungal biodiversity and environmental rules driving its diversity and structure. In our study, the root-associated fungal community of Q. suber was analyzed using high-throughput sequencing across three major Moroccan cork oak habitats. Significant differences in root-associated fungal community structures of Q. suber were observed among Moroccan cork oak habitats (Maâmora, Benslimane, Chefchaoun) subjected to different human disturbance levels (high to low disturbances, respectively). The fungal community structure changes correlated with a wide range of soil properties, notably with pH, C:N ratio (P = 0.0002), and available phosphorus levels (P = 0.0001). More than 90 below-ground fungal indicators (P < 0.01)–either of a type of habitat and/or a soil property–were revealed. The results shed light on the ecological significance of ubiquitous ectomycorrhiza (Tomentella, Russula, Cenococcum), and putative sclerotia-associated/ericoid mycorrhizal fungal taxa (Cladophialophora, Oidiodendron) in the Moroccan cork oak forest, and their intraspecific variability regarding their response to land use and soil characteristics.

Assembly processes of trophic guilds in the root mycobiome of temperate forests

“…Ericoid fungi occur frequently on non ericoid plants, such as conifers, as well as other tree species (Chambers, Curlevski, & Cairney, 2008;Dučić, Berthold, Langenfeld-Heyser, Beese, & Polle, 2009;Jankowiak, Bilański, Paluch, & Kołodziej, 2016;Leopold, 2016;Maghnia et al, 2017;Reininger & Schlegel, 2016;, facilitate seedling growth on stressed soils (Yamaji et al, 2016) and enhance the host N supply from recalcitrant organic sources in nutrient-poor environments (Wei, Chen, Zhang, & Pan, 2016;Wurzburger, Higgins, & Hendrick, 2012). We found a higher fraction of endophytes in Pinaceae than Fagaceae roots.…”

“…Similarly, the trophic composition of RAMs along a successional gradient of willows and birches was also relatively stable with a strong enrichment of mycorrhizas (>56% read abundance) compared with saprotrophs and endophytes (together 17%); however, ericoid fungal taxa were enriched in later successional stages (Kolaříková et al., ). Ericoid fungi occur frequently on nonericoid plants, such as conifers, as well as other tree species (Chambers, Curlevski, & Cairney, ; Dučić, Berthold, Langenfeld‐Heyser, Beese, & Polle, ; Jankowiak, Bilański, Paluch, & Kołodziej, ; Leopold, ; Maghnia et al., ; Reininger & Schlegel, ; Toju, Sato, et al., ; Toju, Yamamoto, et al., ), facilitate seedling growth on stressed soils (Yamaji et al., ) and enhance the host N supply from recalcitrant organic sources in nutrient‐poor environments (Wei, Chen, Zhang, & Pan, ; Wurzburger, Higgins, & Hendrick, ). We found a higher fraction of endophytes in Pinaceae than Fagaceae roots.…”

Mycorrhizal fungi affect orchid distribution and population dynamics

“…Fungal communities are well known to differ among habitats and to be patchily distributed (e.g. Grau et al ., ; Maghnia et al ., ; Chaudhary et al ., ), but OMFs have received little attention. Bunch et al .…”

“…Fungal communities are well known to differ among habitats and to be patchily distributed (e.g. Grau et al, 2017;Maghnia et al, 2017;Chaudhary et al, 2018), but OMFs have received little attention. Bunch et al (2013) found that Cypripedium acaule associated with different OMFs in locations with different soil chemistry.…”

The cork oak in the Mountains of Palermo (Italy): ecological insights from the south-eastern edge of its distribution range

“…The average depth of the described pedons falls within the range reported in the literature (Dettori et al 2001). Soluble ions, particularly sodium, do not disturb the cork oak, though excess calcium most likely does (Maghnia et al 2017). In fact, at each depth, molar ratios Na/Ca were always higher than 1, while Mg/Ca ratio was at maximum 0.6, and Na/K ratio…”