Publication
Title
Abiotic rather than biotic filtering shapes the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities of European seminatural grasslands
Author
Abstract
Although it is well known that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) play a key role in the functioning of natural ecosystems, the underlying drivers determining the composition of AMF communities remain unclear. In this study, we established 138 sampling plots at 46 grassland sites, consisting of 26 acidic grasslands and 20 calcareous grasslands spread across eight European countries, to assess the relative importance of abiotic and biotic filtering in driving AMF community composition and structure in both the grassland soils and in the roots of 13 grassland plant species. Soil AMF communities differed significantly between acidic and calcareous grasslands. In root AMF communities, most variance was attributable to soil variables while very little variation was explained by host plant identity. Root AMF communities in host plant species occurring in only one grassland type closely resembled the soil AMF communities of that grassland type and the root AMF communities of other host plant species occurring in the same grassland type. The observed AMF-host plants networks were not modular but nested. Our results indicate that abiotic conditions, rather than biotic filtering through host plant specificity, are the most important drivers in shaping AMF communities in European seminatural grasslands.
Language
English
Source (journal)
New phytologist. - Oxford
Publication
Oxford : 2018
ISSN
0028-646X
DOI
10.1111/NPH.14947
Volume/pages
220 :4 (2018) , p. 1262-1272
ISI
000449521400035
Pubmed ID
29243832
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Publication type
Subject
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 02.01.2024
Last edited 03.01.2024
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