Testing the ectomycorrhizal-dominance hypothesis for ecosystem multifunctionality in a subtropical mountain forest
Research output: Contribution to journal › Research article › Contributed › peer-review
Contributors
Abstract
Mycorrhizal associations are key mutualisms that shape the structure of forest communities and multiple ecosystem functions. However, we lack a framework for predicting the varying dominance of distinct mycorrhizal associations in an integrated proxy of multifunctionality across ecosystems. Here, we used the datasets containing diversity of mycorrhizal associations and 18 ecosystem processes related to supporting, provisioning, and regulating services to examine how the dominance of ectomycorrhiza (EcM) associations affects ecosystem multifunctionality in subtropical mountain forests in Southwest China. Meanwhile, we synthesized the prevalence of EcM-dominant effects on ecosystem functioning in forest biomes. Our results demonstrated that elevation significantly modified the distributions of EcM trees and fungal dominance, which in turn influenced multiple functions simultaneously. Multifunctionality increased with increasing proportion of EcM associations, supporting the ectomycorrhizal-dominance hypothesis. Meanwhile, we observed that the impacts of EcM dominance on individual ecosystem functions exhibited different relationships among forest biomes. Our findings highlight the importance of ectomycorrhizal dominance in regulating multifunctionality in subtropical forests. However, this ectomycorrhizal feedback in shaping ecosystem functions cannot necessarily be generalized across forests. Therefore, we argue that the predictions for ecosystem multifunctionality in response to the shifts of mycorrhizal composition could vary across space and time.
Details
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 2401-2415 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | New phytologist |
Volume | 243 |
Issue number | 6 |
Publication status | Published - Sept 2024 |
Peer-reviewed | Yes |
External IDs
ORCID | /0000-0002-7968-4489/work/171066120 |
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ORCID | /0000-0001-6927-2782/work/171066170 |
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Keywords
- arbuscular mycorrhiza, biogeochemical cycling, ecosystem multifunctionality, ectomycorrhiza, elevation, forest biome, Gaoligong Mountains