Root-associated Fungal Communities: Critical Linkages between Plants and Soil

Understanding Their Structure and Function to Predict the Impacts of Environmental Change

Pena, Rodica

• Publisher: Cuvillier Verlag
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN: 9783736979642
• eBook ISBN: 9783736969643
• Edition: 1

This research highlights the vital but often overlooked role of soil fungi in forest ecosystems, focusing on their impact on nutrient cycles, carbon storage, and plant growth. It delves into how these fungi, especially those connected to plant roots, contribute to the overall health and productivity of forests. The study breaks new ground by examining how changes in the environment, influenced by factors like climate change and forest management practices, affect these fungi and the essential services they provide.The investigation is structured into three main parts: exploring the diversity and makeup of root-associated fungal communities, using advanced infrared spectroscopy to uncover new fungal traits, and studying fungi's roles in carbon cycling and plant nutrition. Utilizing cutting-edge molecular techniques and large ecological databases, the researchers uncover the complex interactions between fungi, their environment, and plant hosts, demonstrating how these relationships are crucial for ecosystem resilience and productivity.Key findings reveal that the diversity and structure of fungal communities are crucial for maintaining forest health, particularly in the face of environmental stressors. The study advocates for forest management strategies that promote fungal diversity to enhance ecosystem services, highlighting the importance of fungi in sustaining forest ecosystems and their potential in mitigating the impacts of climate change. This work sets the stage for future research into the intricate relationships between fungi, forests, and global ecological cycles, emphasizing the need for a deeper understanding of these critical but underappreciated organisms.

Table of contents

• Preface
• Chapter 1 Introduction
• 1.1 Soil free-living and root-associated fungi in thetemperate forests: an overview
• 1.2 The role of saprotrophic and mycorrhizal fungi inthe ecosystem
• 1.3 The importance of ectomycorrhizal functionaltraits in the biodiversity-ecosystem functioningrelationships
• 1.4 The assembly of root-associated fungal communities
• 1.5 A relevant large-scale and long-term experimental platformin the functional biodiversity research: The BiodiversityExploratories
• Chapter 2The goals, hypotheses and structure of the work
• 2.1 Section I Characterization of root-associated fungalcommunities across environmental gradients -uncovering the relative contribution of deterministicprocesses to community assembly
• 2.2 Section II Estimation of ectomycorrhizalfunctional traits from mycelium infrared spectraltraits
• 2.3 Section III Contribution of free-living and rootassociatedsoil fungi to ecosystem services: soil Csequestration, N cycling, and primary production
• Chapter 3Assembly processes of trophic guilds in the root mycobiomeof temperate forests
• Chapter 4Soil and root nutrient chemistry structure root-associatedfungal assemblages in temperate forests
• Chapter 5Phylogenetic and functional traits of ectomycorrhizalassemblages in top soil from different biogeographic regionsand forest types
• Chapter 6Divergent habitat filtering of root and soil fungalcommunities in temperate beech forests
• Chapter 7Ectomycorrhizal fungal identification in environmentalsamples of tree roots by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR)spectroscopy
• Chapter 8Leaf litter species identity influences biochemicalcomposition of ectomycorrhizal fungi
• Chapter 9Ectomycorrhizal and saprotrophic soil fungal biomass aredriven by different factors and vary among broadleaf andconiferous temperate forests addresses
• Chapter 10Nitrogen acquisition in ectomycorrhizal symbiosis
• Chapter 11Impact of ectomycorrhizal community composition and soiltreatment on inorganic nitrogen nutrition and performance ofbeech (Fagus sylvatica L.) provenances
• Chapter 12Impacts of earthworms on nitrogen acquisition from leaf litterby arbuscular mycorrhizal ash and ectomycorrhizal beech trees
• Conclusions
• Acknowledgements
• References