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Yang N, Hua J, Zhang J, Liu D, Bhople P, Li X, Zhang Y, Ruan H, Xing W, Mao L. Soil nutrients and plant diversity affect ectomycorrhizal fungal community structure and functional traits across three subalpine coniferous forests. Front Microbiol 2022; 13:1016610. [PMID: 36274721 PMCID: PMC9583403 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.1016610] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2022] [Accepted: 09/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The symbiotic relationship between ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) and the roots of host plants is significantly important in regulating the health and stability of ecosystems, especially of those such as the climate warming affected subalpine forest ecosystems. Therefore, from the coniferous forest systems located in the Southern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, root tips from three forest tree species: Pinus wallichiana, Abies spectabilis and Picea spinulosa, were collected to look for the local causes of EMF community composition and diversity patterns. The EMF colonization rate, diversity and taxonomic community structure were determined by morphotyping and sanger sequencing of the fungal ITS gene from the root tip samples. Soil exploration types were identified based on the morphologies of the ectomycorrhizas, coupled with soil properties analysis and plant diversity survey. Contrasting patterns of EMF community and functional diversity were found across the studied three forests types dominated by different coniferous tree species. In terms of associations between soil and EMF properties, the total phosphorus (TP) and nitrate (NO3−) contents in soil negatively correlated with the colonization rate and the Shannon diversity index of EMF in contrast to the positive relationship between TP and EMF richness. The soil total nitrogen (TN), ammonium (NH4+) and plant diversity together caused 57.6% of the total variations in the EMF taxonomic community structure at the three investigated forest systems. Whereas based on the soil exploration types alone, NH4+ and TN explained 74.2% of variance in the EMF community structures. Overall, the findings of this study leverage our understanding of EMF dynamics and local influencing factors in coniferous forests dominated by different tree species within the subalpine climatic zone.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nan Yang
- Department of Ecology, College of Biology and the Environment, Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China
| | - Jiani Hua
- Department of Ecology, College of Biology and the Environment, Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China
| | - Jiangbao Zhang
- Department of Ecology, College of Biology and the Environment, Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China
| | - Dong Liu
- The Germplasm Bank of Wild Species, Yunnan Key Laboratory for Fungal Diversity and Green Development, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China
| | - Parag Bhople
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, School of Natural Sciences, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
| | - Xiuxiu Li
- Department of Ecology, College of Biology and the Environment, Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China
| | - Yan Zhang
- Department of Ecology, College of Biology and the Environment, Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China
| | - Honghua Ruan
- Department of Ecology, College of Biology and the Environment, Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China
| | - Wei Xing
- Jiangsu Academy of Forestry, Nanjing, China
- Yangzhou Urban Forest Ecosystem National Research Station, Jiangsu, Yangzhou, China
- *Correspondence: Wei Xing,
| | - Lingfeng Mao
- Department of Ecology, College of Biology and the Environment, Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China
- Lingfeng Mao,
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