Higher Soil Respiration Rate Beneath Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Trees in a Northern Hardwood Forest is Driven by Associated
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Higher Soil Respiration Rate Beneath Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Trees in a Northern Hardwood Forest is Driven by Associated Soil Properties Ashley K. Lang,1* Fiona V. Jevon,1 Matthew P. Ayres,1 and Jaclyn Hatala Matthes2 1
Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, 78 College St., Hanover, New Hampshire, USA; 2Department of Biological Sciences, Wellesley College, 106 Central St., Wellesley, Massachusetts, USA
ABSTRACT Soil respiration is the dominant pathway by which terrestrial carbon enters the atmosphere. Many abiotic and biotic processes can influence soil respiration, including soil microbial community composition. Mycorrhizal fungi are a particularly important microbial group because they are known to influence soil chemistry and nutrient cycling, and, because the type of mycorrhizal fungi in an ecosystem can be assessed based on the plant species present, they may be easier than other soil microbes to incorporate into ecosystem models. We tested how the type of mycorrhizal fungi—arbuscular (AM) or ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi—associated with the dominant tree species in a mixed hardwood forest was related to soil respiration rate. We measured soil respiration, root biomass, and surface area, and soil chemical and physical char-
acteristics during the growing season in plots dominated by ECM-associated trees, AM-associated trees, and mixtures with both. We found rates of soil respiration that were 29% and 32% higher in AM plots than in ECM and mixed plots, respectively. These differences are likely explained by the slightly higher nitrogen concentrations and deeper organic horizons in soil within AM plots compared with soil in ECM and mixed plots. Our results highlight the importance of considering mycorrhizal associations of dominant vegetation as predictors of carbon cycling processes. Key words: Soil respiration; Mycorrhizal fungi; Carbon; Microbial activity; CO2; Northern hardwood forest.
HIGHLIGHTS Received 25 April 2019; accepted 9 November 2019
Electronic supplementary material: The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-019-00466-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Author Contributions: Conceived of or designed study: AKL, FVJ, MPA, JHM. Performed research: AKL, FVJ. Analyzed data: AKL, MPA, JHM. Wrote the paper: AKL, FVJ, MPA, JHM. *Corresponding author; e-mail: [email protected]
We found higher rates of soil respiration in AMdominated forest plots Respiration was associated with temperature, soil %N, and organic horizon depth Mycorrhizal fungi may influence soil respiration via covarying soil properties
A. K. Lang and others
INTRODUCTION Soil respiration is the dominant pathway by which terrestrial carbon (C) enters the atmosphere, yet we lack a clear understanding of the factors that control this flux on local scales (Schlesinger and Andrews 2000; Stoyan and others 2000). In forests, soil respiration is comprised of carbon dioxide (CO2) produced by roots and soil microbes, which vary in both biomass and metaboli
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