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Forest carbon stocks increase with higher dominance of ectomycorrhizal trees in high latitude forests.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the mechanisms controlling forest carbon accumulation is crucial for predicting and mitigating future climate change. Yet, it remains unclear whether the dominance of ectomycorrhizal (EcM) trees influences the carbon accumulation of entire forests. In this study, we analyzed forest inventory data from over 4000 forest plots across Northeast China. We find that EcM tree dominance consistently exerts a positive effect on tree, soil, and forest carbon stocks. Moreover, we observe that these positive effects are more pronounced during unfavorable climate conditions, at lower tree species richness, and during early successional stages. This underscores the potential of increasing the dominance of native EcM tree species not only to enhance carbon stocks but also to bolster resilience against climate change in high-latitude forests. Here we show that forest managers can make informed decisions to optimize carbon accumulation by considering various factors such as mycorrhizal types, climate, successional stages, and species richness.

SUBMITTER: Yan G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11251171 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Forest carbon stocks increase with higher dominance of ectomycorrhizal trees in high latitude forests.

Yan Guoyong G Fan Chunnan C Zheng Junqiang J Liu Guancheng G Yu Jinghua J Guo Zhongling Z Cao Wei W Wang Lihua L Wang Wenjie W Meng Qingfan Q Zhang Junhui J Li Yan Y Zheng Jinping J Cui Xiaoyang X Wang Xiaochun X Xu Lijian L Sun Yan Y Zhang Zhi Z Lü Xiao-Tao XT Zhang Ying Y Shi Rongjiu R Hao Guangyou G Feng Yue Y He Jinsheng J Wang Qinggui Q Xing Yajuan Y Han Shijie S

Nature communications 20240716 1

Understanding the mechanisms controlling forest carbon accumulation is crucial for predicting and mitigating future climate change. Yet, it remains unclear whether the dominance of ectomycorrhizal (EcM) trees influences the carbon accumulation of entire forests. In this study, we analyzed forest inventory data from over 4000 forest plots across Northeast China. We find that EcM tree dominance consistently exerts a positive effect on tree, soil, and forest carbon stocks. Moreover, we observe that ...[more]

PMID: 39009629

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Project description:Ectomycorrhizal (EM) associations can promote the dominance of tree species in otherwise diverse tropical forests. These EM associations between trees and their fungal mutualists have important consequences for soil organic matter cycling, yet the influence of these EM-associated effects on surrounding microbial communities is not well known, particularly in neotropical forests. We examined fungal and prokaryotic community composition in surface soil samples from mixed arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and ectomycorrhizal (EM) stands as well as stands dominated by EM-associated Oreomunnea mexicana (Juglandaceae) in four watersheds differing in soil fertility in the Fortuna Forest Reserve, Panama. We hypothesized that EM-dominated stands would support distinct microbial community assemblages relative to the mixed AM-EM stands due to differences in carbon and nitrogen cycling associated with the dominance of EM trees. We expected that this microbiome selection in EM-dominated stands would lead to lower overall microbial community diversity and turnover, with tighter correspondence between general fungal and prokaryotic communities. We measured fungal and prokaryotic community composition via high-throughput Illumina sequencing of the ITS2 (fungi) and 16S rRNA (prokaryotic) gene regions. We analyzed differences in alpha and beta diversity between forest stands associated with different mycorrhizal types, as well as the relative abundance of fungal functional groups and various microbial taxa. We found that fungal and prokaryotic community composition differed based on stand mycorrhizal type. There was lower prokaryotic diversity and lower relative abundance of fungal saprotrophs and pathogens in EM-dominated than AM-EM mixed stands. However, contrary to our prediction, there was lower homogeneity for fungal communities in EM-dominated stands compared to mixed AM-EM stands. Overall, we demonstrate that EM-dominated tropical forest stands have distinct soil microbiomes relative to surrounding diverse forests, suggesting that EM fungi may filter microbial functional groups in ways that could potentially influence plant performance or ecosystem function.

Dataset Information

Forest carbon stocks increase with higher dominance of ectomycorrhizal trees in high latitude forests.

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Forest carbon stocks increase with higher dominance of ectomycorrhizal trees in high latitude forests.

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