Mast seeding in European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is associated with reduced fungal sporocarp production and community diversity

Mast seeding is a well‐documented phenomenon across diverse forest ecosystems. While its effect on aboveground food webs has been thoroughly studied, how it impacts the soil fungi that drive soil carbon and nutrient cycling has not yet been explored. To evaluate the relationship between mast seeding...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecology letters 2024-06, Vol.27 (6), p.e14460-n/a
Main Authors: Michaud, Talia J., Pearse, Ian S., Kauserud, Håvard, Andrew, Carrie J., Kennedy, Peter G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Availability
Beech
Biodiversity
Carbon
Carbon cycle
Drought
Ectomycorrhizas
Fagus - microbiology
Fagus sylvatica
Food availability
Food chains
Food webs
Forest ecosystems
fungal phenology
Fungi
Fungi - physiology
Guilds
historical ecology
mast seeding
Mycobiome
Mycorrhizae - physiology
Nutrient cycles
Resource availability
Seeding
Seeds - microbiology
Soil Microbiology
Soil microorganisms
Switzerland
Terrestrial ecosystems
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Summary:Mast seeding is a well‐documented phenomenon across diverse forest ecosystems. While its effect on aboveground food webs has been thoroughly studied, how it impacts the soil fungi that drive soil carbon and nutrient cycling has not yet been explored. To evaluate the relationship between mast seeding and fungal resource availability, we paired a Swiss 29‐year fungal sporocarp census with contemporaneous seed production for European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.). On average, mast seeding was associated with a 55% reduction in sporocarp production and a compositional community shift towards drought‐tolerant taxa across both ectomycorrhizal and saprotrophic guilds. Among ectomycorrhizal fungi, traits associated with carbon cost did not explain species' sensitivity to seed production. Together, our results support a novel hypothesis that mast seeding limits annual resource availability and reproductive investment in soil fungi, creating an ecosystem ‘rhythm’ to forest processes that is synchronized above‐ and belowground. Mast seeding has cascading consequences on aboveground processes. Its effects belowground, however, remain cryptic. Our study reveals that mast seeding is strongly negatively related to fungal sporocarp (mushroom) production, shedding light on the belowground impacts of mast seeding.
ISSN:1461-023X
1461-0248
1461-0248
DOI:10.1111/ele.14460