Prada-Salcedo Luis Daniel, Goldmann Kezia, Heintz-Buschart Anna, Reitz Thomas, Wambsganss Janna, Bauhus Jürgen, Buscot François
Department of Soil Ecology, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Halle (Saale), Germany.
Department of Biology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
Mol Ecol. 2021 Jan;30(2):572-591. doi: 10.1111/mec.15749. Epub 2020 Dec 14.
At the global scale, most forest research on biodiversity focuses on aboveground organisms. However, understanding the structural associations between aboveground and belowground communities provides relevant information about important functions linked to biogeochemical cycles. Microorganisms such as soil fungi are known to be closely coupled to the dominant tree vegetation, and we hypothesize that tree traits affect fungal guilds and soil functionality in multiple ways. By analysing fungal diversity of 64 plots from four European forest types using Illumina DNA sequencing, we show that soil fungal communities respond to tree community traits rather than to tree species diversity. To explain changes in fungal community structure and measured soil enzymatic activities, we used a trait-based ecological approach and community-weighted means of tree traits to define 'fast' (acquisitive) versus 'slow' (conservative) tree communities. We found specific tree trait effects on different soil fungal guilds and soil enzymatic activities: tree traits associated with litter and absorptive roots correlated with fungal, especially pathogen diversity, and influenced community composition of soil fungi. Relative abundance of the symbiotrophic and saprotrophic guilds mirrored the litter quality, while the root traits of fast tree communities enhanced symbiotrophic abundance. We found that forest types of higher latitudes, which are dominated by fast tree communities, correlated with high carbon-cycling enzymatic activities. In contrast, Mediterranean forests with slow tree communities showed high enzymatic activities related to nitrogen and phosphorous. Our findings highlight that tree trait effects of either 'fast' or 'slow' tree communities drive different fungal guilds and influence biogeochemical cycles.
在全球范围内，大多数关于生物多样性的森林研究都集中在地上生物。然而，了解地上和地下群落之间的结构关联，能为与生物地球化学循环相关的重要功能提供相关信息。已知土壤真菌等微生物与优势树种植被紧密相连，我们推测树木性状会以多种方式影响真菌类群和土壤功能。通过使用Illumina DNA测序分析来自四种欧洲森林类型的64个样地的真菌多样性，我们发现土壤真菌群落对树木群落性状而非树种多样性做出反应。为了解释真菌群落结构的变化和测得的土壤酶活性，我们采用了基于性状的生态学方法和树木性状的群落加权均值来定义“快速”（ acquisitive）与“缓慢”（保守）的树木群落。我们发现特定的树木性状对不同的土壤真菌类群和土壤酶活性有影响：与凋落物和吸收根相关的树木性状与真菌尤其是病原菌多样性相关，并影响土壤真菌的群落组成。共生营养和腐生营养类群的相对丰度反映了凋落物质量，而快速生长树木群落的根系性状提高了共生营养的丰度。我们发现，以快速生长树木群落为主的高纬度森林类型与高碳循环酶活性相关。相比之下，具有缓慢生长树木群落的地中海森林则表现出与氮和磷相关的高酶活性。我们的研究结果强调，“快速”或“缓慢”树木群落的树木性状效应驱动了不同的真菌类群，并影响生物地球化学循环。
