Logo image
Back
Mycorrhizal symbiosis and phosphorus supply determine interactions among plants with contrasting nutrient‐acquisition strategies
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Mycorrhizal symbiosis and phosphorus supply determine interactions among plants with contrasting nutrient‐acquisition strategies

R.J. Standish, F.E. Albornoz, T.K. Morald, R.J. Hobbs and M. Tibbett
Journal of Ecology, Vol.109(11), pp.3892-3902
2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13766
url
Link to Published Version *Subscription may be requiredView

Abstract

Highly diverse plant communities growing on nutrient-impoverished soils are test beds for theories on species coexistence. Here, neighbouring mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal plants compete for limited phosphorus. The impact of below-ground interactions on community dynamics is underexplored. We used an experimental approach to investigate effects of inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and a phosphorus supply gradient on competitive and facilitative interactions among mixed assemblages of woody plants in microcosms. The plant species, one cluster root-forming (CR) species and four AM species, are native to jarrah forest that grows on nutrient-impoverished soils in south-western Australia. We measured plant growth in microcosms, with and without inoculation with the AM fungus Rhizophagus irregularis, and across a gradient of P supply: 0, 9, 27 and 243 mg P per kg of soil. Our data show evidence of plant–plant facilitation at low P supply and competition at high P supply. Growth of the CR species, Hakea undulata, was highest in microcosms with 0P and without AM inoculation. One AM species, Bossiaea aquifolium, also performed better at lower P levels, possibly benefitting from P mobilised by H. undulata. The other three AM species, one strongly obligates, performed better at higher P levels. Data for Acacia celastrifolia suggested it was facultatively mycotropic, and because there was no correlation between AM colonisation and the relative inoculum effect, we suggest positive effects of AM inoculation at 9P might be due to benefits other than P acquisition, such as pathogen defence. Benefit of AM inoculation diminished for three of four mycorrhizal species at the highest P level as we had predicted. The fourth species, Eucalyptus marginata (jarrah), had higher growth in microcosms that were not inoculated with AM, perhaps because the species benefits more from ectomycorrhizas. Synthesis. Our experimental data suggest spatial heterogeneity of soil P, coupled with a diversity of nutrient-acquisition strategies, and plasticity among plant–plant and plant–AM fungi interactions, contributes to plant species coexistence in the nutrient-impoverished jarrah forest. Our research highlights the importance of below-ground mechanisms for understanding factors determining community structure including a potential role of AM fungi in plant pathogen defence.

Details

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#2 Zero Hunger
#15 Life on Land

Source: InCites

Metrics

33 Record Views
12 Times Cited - Web of Science

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Citation topics
3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology
3.97 Plant Pathology
3.97.488 Mycorrhizal Symbiosis
Web Of Science research areas
Ecology
Plant Sciences
ESI research areas
Environment/Ecology
Logo image