TY - JOUR
T1 - Tropical tree ectomycorrhiza are distributed independently of soil nutrients
AU - Medina-Vega, José A.
AU - Zuleta, Daniel
AU - Aguilar, Salomón
AU - Alonso, Alfonso
AU - Bissiengou, Pulchérie
AU - Brockelman, Warren Y.
AU - Bunyavejchewin, Sarayudh
AU - Burslem, David F.R.P.
AU - Castaño, Nicolás
AU - Chave, Jérôme
AU - Dalling, James W.
AU - de Oliveira, Alexandre A.
AU - Duque, Álvaro
AU - Ediriweera, Sisira
AU - Ewango, Corneille E.N.
AU - Filip, Jonah
AU - Hubbell, Stephen P.
AU - Itoh, Akira
AU - Kiratiprayoon, Somboon
AU - Lum, Shawn K.Y.
AU - Makana, Jean Remy
AU - Memiaghe, Hervé
AU - Mitre, David
AU - Mohamad, Mohizah Bt
AU - Nathalang, Anuttara
AU - Nilus, Reuben
AU - Nkongolo, Nsalambi V.
AU - Novotny, Vojtech
AU - O’Brien, Michael J.
AU - Pérez, Rolando
AU - Pongpattananurak, Nantachai
AU - Reynolds, Glen
AU - Russo, Sabrina E.
AU - Tan, Sylvester
AU - Thompson, Jill
AU - Uriarte, María
AU - Valencia, Renato
AU - Vicentini, Alberto
AU - Yao, Tze Leong
AU - Zimmerman, Jess K.
AU - Davies, Stuart J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2024.
PY - 2024/3
Y1 - 2024/3
N2 - Mycorrhizae, a form of plant–fungal symbioses, mediate vegetation impacts on ecosystem functioning. Climatic effects on decomposition and soil quality are suggested to drive mycorrhizal distributions, with arbuscular mycorrhizal plants prevailing in low-latitude/high-soil-quality areas and ectomycorrhizal (EcM) plants in high-latitude/low-soil-quality areas. However, these generalizations, based on coarse-resolution data, obscure finer-scale variations and result in high uncertainties in the predicted distributions of mycorrhizal types and their drivers. Using data from 31 lowland tropical forests, both at a coarse scale (mean-plot-level data) and fine scale (20 × 20 metres from a subset of 16 sites), we demonstrate that the distribution and abundance of EcM-associated trees are independent of soil quality. Resource exchange differences among mycorrhizal partners, stemming from diverse evolutionary origins of mycorrhizal fungi, may decouple soil fertility from the advantage provided by mycorrhizal associations. Additionally, distinct historical biogeographies and diversification patterns have led to differences in forest composition and nutrient-acquisition strategies across three major tropical regions. Notably, Africa and Asia’s lowland tropical forests have abundant EcM trees, whereas they are relatively scarce in lowland neotropical forests. A greater understanding of the functional biology of mycorrhizal symbiosis is required, especially in the lowland tropics, to overcome biases from assuming similarity to temperate and boreal regions.
AB - Mycorrhizae, a form of plant–fungal symbioses, mediate vegetation impacts on ecosystem functioning. Climatic effects on decomposition and soil quality are suggested to drive mycorrhizal distributions, with arbuscular mycorrhizal plants prevailing in low-latitude/high-soil-quality areas and ectomycorrhizal (EcM) plants in high-latitude/low-soil-quality areas. However, these generalizations, based on coarse-resolution data, obscure finer-scale variations and result in high uncertainties in the predicted distributions of mycorrhizal types and their drivers. Using data from 31 lowland tropical forests, both at a coarse scale (mean-plot-level data) and fine scale (20 × 20 metres from a subset of 16 sites), we demonstrate that the distribution and abundance of EcM-associated trees are independent of soil quality. Resource exchange differences among mycorrhizal partners, stemming from diverse evolutionary origins of mycorrhizal fungi, may decouple soil fertility from the advantage provided by mycorrhizal associations. Additionally, distinct historical biogeographies and diversification patterns have led to differences in forest composition and nutrient-acquisition strategies across three major tropical regions. Notably, Africa and Asia’s lowland tropical forests have abundant EcM trees, whereas they are relatively scarce in lowland neotropical forests. A greater understanding of the functional biology of mycorrhizal symbiosis is required, especially in the lowland tropics, to overcome biases from assuming similarity to temperate and boreal regions.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85182865325&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41559-023-02298-0
DO - 10.1038/s41559-023-02298-0
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85182865325
SN - 2397-334X
VL - 8
SP - 400
EP - 410
JO - Nature Ecology and Evolution
JF - Nature Ecology and Evolution
IS - 3
ER -