Impact of tree decline on spatial patterns of seedling-mycorrhiza interactions: Implications for regeneration dynamics in Mediterranean forests

Ibáñez, Beatriz; Gómez‐Aparicio, Lorena; Ávila, J. M.; Pérez-Ramos, Ignacio Manuel; García, Luis V.; Marañón, Teodoro

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2015.05.014

Cited by 19 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…Lower ectomycorrhizal colonization and/or colonization density in open gaps and under dead canopy corresponds to the observation of Ibañez et al. () that plant stress from high light levels can reduce carbon assimilation and investment in mycorrhizal associations.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

“…Although junipers are believed to associate exclusively with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (Bush ), many oaks can associate with both arbuscular and ectomycorrhizal fungi (Southworth , Ibañez et al. ). Hence, there is the potential for shared arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to link Ashe juniper with oak seedlings via common mycorrhizal networks (Selosse et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Lower colonization under dead canopy may have been due to a lack of living ectomycorrhizal mycelium, leading to increasing reliance on resistant propagules with increasing distance from living trees (Teste et al 2009, Southworth 2012, Ibañez et al 2015. Although junipers are believed to associate exclusively with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (Bush 2008), many oaks can associate with both arbuscular and ectomycorrhizal fungi (Southworth 2012, Ibañez et al 2015).…”

Section: Growth and Ectomycorrhizal Colonizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Native tree and shrub canopy facilitates oak seedling regeneration in semiarid woodland

et al. 2020

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Oaks (Quercus spp.) are currently declining worldwide due to a multitude of threats. Woodland management is often heavily focused on thinning and burning nontarget species to reduce competition and promote oak dominance in the overstory. These techniques have typically been developed in temperate regions, such as eastern U.S. forests, but whether they are the most effective strategy for promoting oak regeneration in semiarid woodlands has not been sufficiently examined. We conducted our study on the eastern Edwards Plateau in central Texas, where several oak species are codominant with Ashe juniper (Juniperus ashei) over karst limestone terrane. These juniper‐oak woodlands provide habitat for many endemic species and play an essential role in the maintenance of key aquifers. A history of canopy clearing and a severe drought in 2011 generated patches of living and dead juniper‐oak canopy interspersed with canopy gaps in our study area. In November 2013, we planted 200 shin oak (Quercus sinuata var. breviloba) acorns in each of three habitat treatments, replicated six times: (1) live canopy, (2) dead canopy, and (3) open invasive grassland. We monitored emergence and survival each year, harvesting five seedlings from each replicate in October 2017 to assess shoot height, rooting depth, biomass, ectomycorrhizal colonization, and foliar nutrients. Canopy trees, living or dead, significantly enhanced seedling emergence and survival. Survival was positively associated with increasing Ashe juniper and oak basal area, shrub cover, and soil organic matter, and negatively associated with increasing canopy gap size (complete mortality in gaps >220 m2). Seedling biomass increased significantly in dead and open treatments along with foliar nutrients N, P, and S (dead treatments) or S and Fe (open treatments), whereas ectomycorrhizal colonization and foliar nutrients Ca, Mg, and Mn increased under living canopy. Our findings suggest that oak regeneration in these juniper‐oak woodlands closely resembles that of Mediterranean regions, where canopy facilitates seedling survival. Both living and dead trees and shrubs enhanced oak regeneration, with seedling survival depending on proximity to larger trees, living roots, shrubs, and juniper‐oak canopy. Planting acorns under canopy is an inexpensive, sustainable, and effective restoration practice in drought‐prone ecosystems.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Growth and Ectomycorrhizal Colonizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Native tree and shrub canopy facilitates oak seedling regeneration in semiarid woodland

et al. 2020

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“…Notably, in a previous field experiment we found similar probability of AM colonization of oak seedlings in tree neighborhoods dominated by O. europaea and by healthy Q. suber (Ibáñez et al. ). Taken together, our results provide novel evidence for an important role of AM fungi as drivers of positive PSFs in Mediterranean forests, which supports recent findings in tropical forests (Mangan et al.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 54%

Plant‐soil feedbacks in declining forests: implications for species coexistence

Gómez‐Aparicio

Domínguez‐Begines

Kardol

et al. 2017

Ecology

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Plant-soil feedbacks (PSFs) play a relevant role as drivers of species abundance, coexistence, and succession in plant communities. However, the potential contribution of PSFs to community dynamics in changing forest ecosystems affected by global change drivers is still largely unexplored. We measured the direction, strength and nature (biological vs. chemical) of PSFs experienced by coexisting tree species in two types of declining Quercus suber forests of southwestern Spain (open woodland vs. closed forest) invaded by the exotic soil pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi. To test PSFs in a realistic community context, we focused not only on individual PSFs (i.e., comparing the growth of a tree species on conspecific vs. heterospecific soil) but also calculated net-pairwise PSFs by comparing performance of coexisting tree species on their own and each other's soils. We hypothesized that the decline and death of Q. suber would alter the direction and strength of individual and net-pairwise PSFs due to the associated changes in soil nutrients and microbial communities, with implications for recruitment dynamics and species coexistence. In support of our hypothesis, we found that the decline of Q. suber translated into substantial alterations of individual and net-pairwise PSFs, which shifted from mostly neutral to significantly positive or negative, depending on the forest type. In both cases however the identified PSFs benefited other species more than Q. suber (i.e., heterospecific positive PSF in the open woodland, conspecific negative PSF in the closed forest). Our results supported PSFs driven by changes in chemical soil properties (mainly phosphorus) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, but not in pathogen abundance. Overall, our study suggests that PSFs might reinforce the loss of dominance of Q. suber in declining forests invaded by P. cinnamomi by promoting the relative performance of non-declining coexisting species. More generally, our results indicate an increase in the strength of net PSFs as natural forests become disturbed by global change drivers (e.g., invasive species), suggesting an increasingly important role of PSFs in forest community dynamics in the near future.

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“…; Ibáñez et al. ). Regulation and variation of both colonization types in these plant species is not well understood, although some studies that have reported a large influence of soil water availability (Gehring et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Functional responses of Mediterranean plant communities to soil resource heterogeneity: a mycorrhizal trait‐based approach

Navarro‐Fernández

Pérez-Ramos

Riva

et al. 2016

J Vegetation Science

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Questions How are ectomycorrhizal (ECM) and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) traits related to other plant traits at the community level? Which abiotic factors drive the variability of these ECM and AM traits? What is the relative importance of plant species turnover and plant intraspecific differences on mycorrhizal trait variability among communities? Location Nine Mediterranean woody communities, Sierra Morena Mountains, Córdoba, south Spain. Methods Mycorrhizal and plant traits were weighted by the abundance of constitutive plant species to calculate community‐weighted means (CWM). Maximum likelihood techniques were used to analyse how variation in these functional community traits was driven by soil abiotic factors. Results The degree of ECM colonization was positively related to the abundance of evergreen species and to tissue dry matter content (in leaves and roots), but negatively to specific root length and specific leaf area. The best abiotic predictor of ECM colonization was soil moisture, with higher ECM colonization in drier sites. However, AM colonization was not related to any of the plant traits studied, and was positively related to soil Cu and other physico‐chemical soil properties. Changes in community mycorrhization of both types were primarily due to plant species turnover (mainly species occurrence), with a remarkable importance of plant intraspecific variability in the case of AM colonization (especially in the percentage of vesicles). Conclusions The degrees of colonization by ECM and AM at the community level exhibited different patterns, influenced by both biotic factors (plant functional structure) and abiotic conditions (soil moisture and chemical composition). The proposed mycorrhizal trait‐based approach can help to better understand the role of these symbioses on plant community functioning.

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Impact of tree decline on spatial patterns of seedling-mycorrhiza interactions: Implications for regeneration dynamics in Mediterranean forests

Cited by 19 publications

References 72 publications

Native tree and shrub canopy facilitates oak seedling regeneration in semiarid woodland

Native tree and shrub canopy facilitates oak seedling regeneration in semiarid woodland

Plant‐soil feedbacks in declining forests: implications for species coexistence

Functional responses of Mediterranean plant communities to soil resource heterogeneity: a mycorrhizal trait‐based approach

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