No evidence that nitrogen enrichment affect fungal communities of Vaccinium roots in two contrasting boreal forest types

Abstract

In boreal forests ericaceous shrubs often dominate the forest floor vegetation. Nitrogen enrichment has been shown to decrease shrub abundance and in this study we explored whether it also affects the root associated fungal communities. Fine roots of Vaccinium myrtillus were collected in a Norway spruce dominated forest and of Vaccinium vitis-idaea in a Scots pine dominated forest. In both forests, nitrogen enrichment was experimentally induced by adding 12.5 and 50 kg N ha −1 yr −1 for 12 (spruce forest) and four (pine forest) years. Based on terminal restriction fragment length polymorphisms, subcloning and sequencing analyses, the root associated fungal communities were examined. We found 93 fungal species including Asco-, Basidio- and Zygo-mycota. In general, the Rhizoscyphus ericae aggregate was the most dominant and this was followed by Herpotrichiellaceae and Sebacina. Ordination analysis revealed that nitrogen enrichment did not change species composition of the fungal communities in neither the spruce nor the pine forest, while fungal community structures were clearly discriminated between the dominant shrub species in each forest. Similarly, no fungal species showed a significant response to nitrogen enrichment. Therefore, nitrogen enrichment appears to have no effect on root associated fungi of understorey dwarf shrubs in boreal forests, while it is clear that spruce and pine forests harbor distinctive communities of these fungi.