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Lower relative abundance of ectomycorrhizal fungi under a warmer and drier climate is linked to enhanced soil organic matter decomposition

Querejeta, José Ignacio and Schlaeppi, Klaus and López-García, Álvaro and Ondoño, Sara and Prieto, Iván and van der Heijden, Marcel G. A. and Del Mar Alguacil, María. (2021) Lower relative abundance of ectomycorrhizal fungi under a warmer and drier climate is linked to enhanced soil organic matter decomposition. The New phytologist, 232 (3). pp. 1399-1413.

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Official URL: https://edoc.unibas.ch/85363/

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Abstract

The aboveground impacts of climate change receive extensive research attention, but climate change could also alter belowground processes such as the delicate balance between free-living fungal decomposers and nutrient-scavenging mycorrhizal fungi that can inhibit decomposition through a mechanism called the Gadgil effect. We investigated how climate change-induced reductions in plant survival, photosynthesis and productivity alter soil fungal community composition in a mixed arbuscular/ectomycorrhizal (AM/EM) semiarid shrubland exposed to experimental warming (W) and/or rainfall reduction (RR). We hypothesised that increased EM host plant mortality under a warmer and drier climate might decrease ectomycorrhizal fungal (EMF) abundance, thereby favouring the proliferation and activity of fungal saprotrophs. The relative abundance of EMF sequences decreased by 57.5% under W+RR, which was accompanied by reductions in the activity of hydrolytic enzymes involved in the acquisition of organic-bound nutrients by EMF and their host plants. W+RR thereby created an enhanced potential for soil organic matter (SOM) breakdown and nitrogen mineralisation by decomposers, as revealed by 127-190% increases in dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen, respectively, and decreasing SOM content in soil. Climate aridification impacts on vegetation can cascade belowground through shifts in fungal guild structure that alter ecosystem biogeochemistry and accelerate SOM decomposition by reducing the Gadgil effect.
Faculties and Departments:05 Faculty of Science > Departement Umweltwissenschaften > Integrative Biologie > Plant-Microbe Interaction (Schläppi)
UniBasel Contributors:Schläppi, Klaus
Item Type:Article, refereed
Article Subtype:Research Article
ISSN:0028-646X
Note:Publication type according to Uni Basel Research Database: Journal article
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Last Modified:27 Jan 2022 07:11
Deposited On:27 Jan 2022 07:11

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