Institute of Ecological Science, Department of Systems Ecology, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1087, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Department of Structural and Functional Biology, University of Insubria, via Dunant 3, via Dunant 3, Varese, Italy.
Oecologia. 2001 Dec;129(4):611-619. doi: 10.1007/s004420100752. Epub 2001 Jul 13.
Ecosystem carbon cycling depends strongly on the productivity of plant species and the decomposition rates of the litter they produce. We tested the hypothesis that classifying plant functional types according to mycorrhizal association explains important interspecific variation in plant carbon cycling traits, particularly in those traits that feature in a hypothesized feedback between vegetation productivity and litter turnover. We compared data from standardized 'screening' tests on inherent potential seedling relative growth rate (RGR), foliar nutrient concentrations, and leaf litter decomposability among 83 British plant species of known mycorrhizal type. There was important variation in these parameters between mycorrhizal plant types. Plant species with ericoid mycorrhiza showed consistently low inherent RGR, low foliar N and P concentrations, and poor litter decomposability; plant species with ectomycorrhiza had an intermediate RGR, higher foliar N and P, and intermediate to poor litter decomposability; plant species with arbuscular-mycorrhiza showed comparatively high RGR, high foliar N and P, and fast litter decomposition. Within the woody species subset, differentiation in RGR between mycorrhizal types was mostly confounded with deciduous versus evergreen habit, but the overall differentiation in litter mass loss between mycorrhizal types remained strong within each leaf habit. These results indicate that, within a representative subset of a temperate flora, ericoid and ectomycorrhizal strategies are linked with low and arbuscular-mycorrhizal species with high ecosystem carbon turnover. The incorporation of mycorrhizal association into current functional type classifications is a valuable tool in the assessment of plant-mediated controls on carbon and nutrient cycling.
生态系统碳循环强烈依赖于植物物种的生产力和它们产生的凋落物的分解速率。我们检验了一个假设，即根据菌根共生关系对植物功能类型进行分类，可以解释植物碳循环特征的种间重要差异，尤其是在植被生产力和凋落物周转率之间的假设反馈中起重要作用的特征。我们比较了 83 种已知菌根类型的英国植物物种的标准“筛选”测试内在潜在幼苗相对生长率（RGR）、叶片养分浓度和叶片凋落物分解性的数据。这些参数在菌根植物类型之间存在重要差异。具石楠型菌根的植物物种表现出持续的低内在 RGR、低叶片 N 和 P 浓度以及较差的凋落物分解性；具外生菌根的植物物种具有中等的 RGR、较高的叶片 N 和 P 以及中等至较差的凋落物分解性；具丛枝菌根的植物物种表现出相对较高的 RGR、高叶片 N 和 P 以及快速的凋落物分解。在木本物种子集内，菌根类型之间的 RGR 差异主要与落叶与常绿习性混淆，但在每个叶习性内，凋落物质量损失之间的菌根类型整体分化仍然很强。这些结果表明，在温带植物的代表性子集中，石楠型和外生菌根策略与低生态系统碳周转率相关，而丛枝菌根物种则具有高碳周转率。将菌根共生关系纳入当前的功能类型分类是评估植物对碳和养分循环控制的有价值工具。
