Abstract
Little is known about edaphic selection pressures as drivers of contrasting white spruce ectomycorrhizal fungal community structure and diversity in the Canadian boreal forest. We hypothesized that community composition differs among the four sites sampled–nursery, mining site, forest edge, and natural forest. Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal community structure and diversity was studied at the four locations with soil fertility gradient through morpho-molecular and phylogenetic analyses in relationships with rhizospheric soil chemical properties. 41 different species were identified. Mining site had a significantly different species composition than the surrounding environments. Soil pH and percentage of roots colonized by ECM fungi increased while soil P, N, Fe, C, K, Mg, Al, Ca, and Na contents declined across the soil fertility gradient: nursery → natural forest → forest edge → mining site. Contrary to the preference of acid soils by ECM fungi, a few ecologically adapted to high pH, poor soil chemical fertility, and low organic matter content colonize white spruce roots on the non-acidogenic mining site, allowing natural regeneration of white spruce seedlings. Other ECM fungi are adapted to high fertigation level of commercial nursery. This study clearly shows the contrasting difference in white spruce ectomycorrhizal fungal community structure and diversity driven by edaphic selection pressures.
Highlights
Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi have been an important component of temperate forest ecosystems since they first evolved more than 200 million years ago [1]
This hypothesis agrees with results that were obtained by Colpaert et al [27] and Adriaensen et al [51], where tolerance of the ECM fungus Suillus luteus (L.:Fries) Gray (Suillaceae) to soils with high concentrations of Zn, Cd, and Cu was much higher for strains that had been isolated from metal-polluted habitats than those isolated from non-polluted soils
ECM fungal community composition of the mining site was significantly different compared to the surrounding environments: Trecesson nursery, forest edge, and natural forest
Summary
Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi have been an important component of temperate forest ecosystems since they first evolved more than 200 million years ago [1]. Edaphic Selection Pressures of ECM Fungi Associated with White Spruce in the Canadian Boreal Forest speckled alder (Alnus incana [L.) Moench), white birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.), and willow (Salix spp.) [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]. These symbiotic microorganisms supply nutrient elements and water to plants in exchange for carbohydrates that are essential for their development [11,12,13,14]. In contrast to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, which have mostly colonised plant roots in nutrientrich soils with near-neutral pH, ECM fungi generally favour soils with low pH and low mineralization rates [21]
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