Herbivory and Soil Water Availability Induce Changes in Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Abundance and Composition

We tested the prediction that abundance and composition of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in Ipomopsis aggregata roots and soils are influenced by ungulate herbivory and drought conditions by examining the effects in a field setting over two years. We used a multi-metric approach to quantify AMF...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microbial ecology 2022-07, Vol.84 (1), p.141-152
Main Authors: Allsup, Cassandra M., Lankau, Richard A., Paige, Ken N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abundance
Arbuscular mycorrhizas
Availability
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Climate change
Colonization
Community composition
Composition
Drought
Ecology
Fingerprinting
Fungi
Geoecology/Natural Processes
Herbivores
Herbivory
Life Sciences
Microbial Ecology
Microbiology
Moisture content
Nature Conservation
Plant Microbe Interactions
Polymorphism
Restriction fragment length polymorphism
Rhizosphere
Roots
Soil
Soil water
Species composition
Spores
Water availability
Water Quality/Water Pollution
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Summary:We tested the prediction that abundance and composition of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in Ipomopsis aggregata roots and soils are influenced by ungulate herbivory and drought conditions by examining the effects in a field setting over two years. We used a multi-metric approach to quantify AMF root colonization, AMF reproduction, and AMF community composition in roots and soils. We incorporated complimentary community characterization assays by morphologically identifying spores from trap cultures and the use of terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) fingerprinting. Herbivory caused a twofold increase in spore production, an increase in AMF taxa diversity in roots, and a shift in AMF species composition in rhizosphere soils. The impact of herbivory was dependent on water availability, which differed in the two contrasting years. This study demonstrates that both soil water availability and herbivory shape arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi communities. The changes to mycorrhizal communities may help in understanding mycorrhizal function in changing climates.
ISSN:0095-3628
1432-184X
DOI:10.1007/s00248-021-01835-3