Soil fungi promote nitrogen transfer among plants involved in long-lasting facilitative interactions

Montesinos‐Navarro, Alicia; Verdú, Miguel; Querejeta, José Ignacio; Sortibrán, Lugui; Valiente‐Banuet, Alfonso

doi:10.1016/j.ppees.2016.01.004

Cited by 40 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 77 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Nevertheless, we also show that our approach is robust to the consideration of intra‐specific variation in N transfer by repeating the analyses using previously published data of intra‐specific variation for several plant species from the same study system (Montesinos‐Navarro et al. ) (see details in and Appendices and ). We focused on facilitated species having leaves with a relatively fast turnover to ensure a similar tissue age across species since plant δ 15 N natural abundance depends on tissue age and type (Dawson et al.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 67%

“…, Montesinos‐Navarro et al. , ). The establishment, recruitment, and growth of some species depends on the phylogenetic diversity of their neighborhood, suggesting that indirect effects among plants and/or their associated microbiota can shape the outcome of plant facilitative interactions (Castillo et al.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Within these vegetation patches, recent studies have shown that the nurse plant can transfer N to different species of facilitated plants through common mycorrhizal networks (Montesinos‐Navarro et al. ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Nurse plants transfer more nitrogen to distantly related species

Montesinos‐Navarro

Verdú

Querejeta

et al. 2017

Ecology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Plant facilitative interactions enhance co-occurrence between distant relatives, partly due to limited overlap in resource requirements. We propose a different mechanism for the coexistence of distant relatives based on positive interactions of nutrient sharing. Nutrients move between plants following source-sink gradients driven by plant traits that allow these gradients to establish. Specifically, nitrogen (N) concentration gradients can arise from variation in leaf N content across plants species. As many ecologically relevant traits, we hypothesize that leaf N content is phylogenetically conserved and can result in N gradients promoting N transfer among distant relatives. In a Mexican desert community governed by facilitation, we labelled nurse plants (Mimosa luisana) with N and measured its transfer to 14 other species in the community, spanning the range of phylogenetic distances to the nurse plant. Nurses established steeper N source-sink gradients with distant relatives, increasing N transfer toward these species. Nutrient sharing may provide long-term benefits to facilitated plants and may be an overlooked mechanism maintaining coexistence and increasing the phylogenetic diversity of plant communities.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 67%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Nurse plants transfer more nitrogen to distantly related species

Montesinos‐Navarro

Verdú

Querejeta

et al. 2017

Ecology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…1). Only a few studies focus on how adult plants increase seedling survival through the transfer of nitrogen and carbon mediated by mycorrhizal fungi, the induction volatiles' production to avoid herbivore-insects or the enhancement of nutrient transfer among adult plants promoting long-lasting facilitative interactions (Teste et al 2009, Babikova et al 2013, Song et al 2015, Montesinos-Navarro et al 2016a). 2).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The presence of mycorrhizal fungi can be either enhanced through inoculation treatments, or reduced both physically, using meshes or digging trenches, and chemically with the application of fungicide to the soil (Ouahmane et al 2006, Babikova et al 2013, Zhang et al 2014, Montesinos-Navarro et al 2016a. The presence of mycorrhizal fungi can be either enhanced through inoculation treatments, or reduced both physically, using meshes or digging trenches, and chemically with the application of fungicide to the soil (Ouahmane et al 2006, Babikova et al 2013, Zhang et al 2014, Montesinos-Navarro et al 2016a.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mycorrhizal symbiosis increases the benefits of plant facilitative interactions

2018

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The diversity of pathways through which mycorrhizal fungi alter plant coexistence hinders the understanding of their effects on plant-plant interactions. The outcome of plant facilitative interactions can be indirectly affected by mycorrhizal symbiosis, ultimately shaping biodiversity patterns. We tested whether mycorrhizal symbiosis enhances plant facilitative interactions and whether its effect is consistent across different methodological approaches and biological scenarios. We conducted a meta-analysis of 215 cases (involving 21 nurse and 29 facilitated species), in which the performance of a facilitated plant species is measured in the presence or absence of mycorrhizal fungi. We show that mycorrhizal fungi significantly enhance plant facilitative interactions mainly through an increment in plant biomass (aboveground) and nutrient content, although their effects differ across biological contexts. In semiarid environments mycorrhizal symbiosis enhances plant facilitation, while its effect is non-significant in temperate ecosystems. In addition, arbuscular but not ecto-mycorrhizal (EMF) fungi significantly enhance plant facilitation, particularly increasing the P content of the plants more than EMF. Some knowledge gaps regarding the importance of this phenomenon have been detected in this meta-analysis. The effect of mycorrhizal symbiosis on plant facilitation has rarely been assessed in other ecosystems different from semiarid and temperate forests, and rarely considering other fungal benefits provided to plants besides nutrients. Finally, we are still far from understanding the effects of the whole fungal community on plant-plant interactions, and on plant species coexistence.

show abstract