Dataset Information

Within-species phylogenetic relatedness of a common mycorrhizal fungus affects evenness in plant communities through effects on dominant species.

ABSTRACT: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have been shown to influence plant community structure and diversity. Studies based on single plant-single AMF isolate experiments show that within AMF species variation leads to large differential growth responses of different plant species. Because of these differential effects, genetic differences among isolates of an AMF species could potentially have strong effects on the structure of plant communities. We tested the hypothesis that within species variation in the AMF Rhizophagus irregularis significantly affects plant community structure and plant co-existence. We took advantage of a recent genetic characterization of several isolates using double-digest restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (ddRADseq). This allowed us to test not only for the impact of within AMF species variation on plant community structure but also for the role of the R. irregularis phylogeny on plant community metrics. Nine isolates of R. irregularis, belonging to three different genetic groups (Gp1, Gp3 and Gp4), were used as either single inoculum or as mixed diversity inoculum. Plants in a mesocosm representing common species that naturally co-exist in European grasslands were inoculated with the different AMF treatments. We found that within-species differences in R. irregularis did not strongly influence the performance of individual plants or the structure of the overall plant community. However, the evenness of the plant community was affected by the phylogeny of the fungal isolates, where more closely-related AMF isolates were more likely to affect plant community evenness in a similar way compared to more genetically distant isolates. This study underlines the effect of within AMF species variability on plant community structure. While differential effects of the AMF isolates were not strong, a single AMF species had enough functional variability to change the equilibrium of a plant community in a way that is associated with the evolutionary history of the fungus.

SUBMITTER: Savary R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6248901 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Within-species phylogenetic relatedness of a common mycorrhizal fungus affects evenness in plant communities through effects on dominant species.

Savary Romain R Villard Lucas L Sanders Ian R IR

PloS one 20181121 11

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have been shown to influence plant community structure and diversity. Studies based on single plant-single AMF isolate experiments show that within AMF species variation leads to large differential growth responses of different plant species. Because of these differential effects, genetic differences among isolates of an AMF species could potentially have strong effects on the structure of plant communities. We tested the hypothesis that within species variatio ...[more]

PMID: 30462644

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Project description:Exploring how interactions between species evenness and dominant species identity affect litter decomposition processes is vital to understanding the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in the context of global changes. We carried out a 127-day litter decomposition experiment under controlled conditions, with interactions of four species evenness types (high, medium, low and single species) and three dominant species identity (Leymus chinensis, Serratula centauroides, Artemisia capillaris). After collecting the remaining litter, we estimated how evenness and dominant species identity affected litter mass loss rate, carbon (C) loss rate, nitrogen (N) loss rate and remaining litter C/N directly or indirectly, and assessed relative mixture effects (RMEs) on litter mass loss. The main results are shown as follows. (1) By generalized linear models, litter mass loss rate was significantly affected by evenness after 69-day decomposition; N loss rate was affected by dominant species identity after 69-day decomposition, with treatment dominated by Serratula centauroides being at least 9.26% higher than that dominated by any of other species; and remaining litter C/N was affected by the interactions between evenness and dominant species identity after 30-, 69- and 127-day decomposition. (2) Twenty-three out of 27 RMEs were additive, and dominant species identity showed a significant effect on RMEs after 127-day decomposition. (3) By confirmatory path analyses, litter mass loss rate was affected by dominant species identity directly after 127-day decomposition, and by both species evenness and dominant species identity indirectly which was mediated by initial litter functional dispersion (FDis) after 30- and 69-day decomposition; remaining litter C/N was affected by evenness indirectly which was mediated by initial litter FDis after 127-day decomposition. These findings highlight the importance of evenness and dominant species identity on litter decomposition. The study provides insights into communities during retrogressive successions in semi-arid grasslands in the context of global changes.

Dataset Information

Within-species phylogenetic relatedness of a common mycorrhizal fungus affects evenness in plant communities through effects on dominant species.

Publications

Within-species phylogenetic relatedness of a common mycorrhizal fungus affects evenness in plant communities through effects on dominant species.

Similar Datasets

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