Scale-dependent niche axes of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

Fitzsimons, Michael S.; Miller, R. M.; Jastrow, Julie D.

doi:10.1007/s00442-008-1117-8

Cited by 80 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…However, most DNA-based studies have either compared AM fungal diversity between habitats or simply listed species (see Ö pik et al, 2006 for a review). The few attempts to understand processes structuring these communities have been based on spore identification (Fitzsimons et al, 2008), which does not reveal processes regulating fungal communities in planta; or on fungi sampled from a small selection of plant species (Santos et al, 2006;Lekberg et al, 2007;Schechter and Bruns, 2008) or from an environment with minimal variance in soil chemistry (Singh et al, 2008), which will not fully sample all the potential habitats that AM fungi might occupy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In contrast, studies using molecular techniques to identify fungi in planta have revealed large differences among the communities of fungi colonizing the roots of coexisting plant species (Vandenkoornhuyse et al, 2003). In addition to host plant effects, soil physical and chemical properties may affect AM fungal communities (Fitzsimons et al, 2008;Liu et al, 2009), implying that AM fungal communities are actually structured by deterministic processes (niche theory). However, the relative importance of these niche and neutral processes in structuring AM fungal communities has yet to be established.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Relative roles of niche and neutral processes in structuring a soil microbial community

Dumbrell

Nelson

Helgason

et al. 2009

ISME J

763

596

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Most attempts to identify the processes that structure natural communities have focused on conspicuous macroorganisms whereas the processes responsible for structuring microbial communities remain relatively unknown. Two main theories explaining these processes have emerged; niche theory, which highlights the importance of deterministic processes, and neutral theory, which focuses on stochastic processes. We examined whether neutral or niche-based mechanisms best explain the composition and structure of communities of a functionally important soil microbe, the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. Using molecular techniques, we surveyed AM fungi from 425 individual plants of 28 plant species along a soil pH gradient. There was evidence that both niche and neutral processes structured this community. Species abundances fitted the zerosum multinomial distribution and there was evidence of dispersal limitation, both indicators of neutral processes. However, we found stronger support that niche differentiation based on abiotic soil factors, primarily pH, was structuring the AM fungal community. Host plant species affected AM fungal community composition negligibly compared to soil pH. We conclude that although niche partitioning was the primary mechanism regulating the composition and diversity of natural AM fungal communities, these communities are also influenced by stochastic-neutral processes. This study represents one of the most comprehensive investigations of community-level processes acting on soil microbes; revealing a community that although influenced by stochastic processes, still responded in a predictable manner to a major abiotic niche axis, soil pH. The strong response to environmental factors of this community highlights the susceptibility of soil microbes to environmental change.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relative roles of niche and neutral processes in structuring a soil microbial community

Dumbrell

Nelson

Helgason

et al. 2009

ISME J

763

596

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The modularity analysis supported this idea. There are indications that AMF diversity and distribution in soils depend on soil properties such as water availability (56), soil texture (57), or soil chemistry (14,15,58). Oehl et al (9), in an extensive study, found that soil type is a key factor determining the composition of the AMF community.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modularity Reveals the Tendency of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi To Interact Differently with Generalist and Specialist Plant Species in Gypsum Soils

Torrecillas

Alguacil

Roldán

et al. 2014

Appl Environ Microbiol

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Patterns in plant-soil biota interactions could be influenced by the spatial distribution of species due to soil conditions or by the functional traits of species. Gypsum environments usually constitute a mosaic of heterogeneous soils where gypsum and nongypsum soils are imbricated at a local scale. A case study of the interactions of plants with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in gypsum environments can be illustrative of patterns in biotic interactions. We hypothesized that (i) soil characteristics might affect the AMF community and (ii) there are differences between the AMF communities (modules) associated with plants exclusive to gypsum soils (gypsophytes) and those associated with plants that show facultative behavior on gypsum and/or marlylimestone soils (gypsovags). We used indicator species and network analyses to test for differences between the AMF communities harbored in gypsophyte and gypsovag plants. We recorded 46 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) belonging to nine genera of Glomeromycota. The indicator species analysis showed two OTUs preferentially associating with gypsum soils and three OTUs preferentially associating with marly-limestone soils. Modularity analysis revealed that soil type can be a major factor shaping AMF communities, and some AMF groups showed a tendency to interact differently with plants that had distinct ecological strategies (gypsophytes and gypsovags). Characterization of ecological networks can be a valuable tool for ascertaining the potential influence of above-and below-ground biotic interactions (plant-AMF) on plant community composition.

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“…The uniformity of plant cover within croplands may have a homogenizing effect on AM fungal communities. We based this hypothesis on published evidence of the selective influence of plants on extraradical AM fungal growth (14) and on the structure of AM fungal communities in soil (76,77). Host plants have a large influence in shaping AM fungal communities in soils (78,79).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Land Use on Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Communities in Rural Canada

Mei

Bainard

Hamel

et al. 2013

Appl Environ Microbiol

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bThe influence of land use on soil bio-resources is largely unknown. We examined the communities of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi in wheat-growing cropland, natural areas, and seminatural areas along roads. We sampled the Canadian prairie extensively (317 sites) and sampled 20 sites in the Atlantic maritime ecozone for comparison. The proportions of the different AM fungal taxa in the communities found at these sites varied with land use type and ecozones, based on pyrosequencing of 18S rRNA gene (rDNA) amplicons, but the lists of AM fungal taxa obtained from the different land use types and ecozones were very similar. In the prairie, the Glomeraceae family was the most abundant and diverse family of Glomeromycota, followed by the Claroideoglomeraceae, but in the Atlantic maritime ecozone, the Claroideoglomeraceae family was most abundant. In the prairie, species richness and Shannon's diversity index were highest in roadsides, whereas cropland had a higher degree of species richness than roadsides in the Atlantic maritime ecozone. The frequencies of occurrence of the different AM fungal taxa in croplands in the prairie and Atlantic maritime ecozones were highly correlated, but the AM fungal communities in these ecozones had different structures. We conclude that the AM fungal resources of soils are resilient to disturbance and that the richness of AM fungi under cropland management has been maintained, despite evidence of a structural shift imposed by this type of land use. Roadsides in the Canadian prairie are a good repository for the conservation of AM fungal diversity.

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Scale-dependent niche axes of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

Cited by 80 publications

References 62 publications

Relative roles of niche and neutral processes in structuring a soil microbial community

Relative roles of niche and neutral processes in structuring a soil microbial community

Modularity Reveals the Tendency of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi To Interact Differently with Generalist and Specialist Plant Species in Gypsum Soils

Impact of Land Use on Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Communities in Rural Canada

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