Abstract
While it is known that interactions between plants and soil fungi drive many essential ecosystem functions, considerable uncertainty exists over the drivers of fungal community composition in the rhizosphere. Here, we examined the roles of plant species identity, phylogeny and functional traits in shaping rhizosphere fungal communities and tested the robustness of these relationships to environmental change. We conducted a glasshouse experiment consisting of 21 temperate grassland species grown under three different environmental treatments and characterised the fungal communities within the rhizosphere of these plants. We found that plant species identity, plant phylogenetic relatedness and plant traits all affected rhizosphere fungal community composition. Trait relationships with fungal communities were primarily driven by interactions with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and root traits were stronger predictors of fungal communities than leaf traits. These patterns were independent of the environmental treatments the plants were grown under. Our results showcase the key role of plant root traits, especially root diameter, root nitrogen and specific root length, in driving rhizosphere fungal community composition, demonstrating the potential for root traits to be used within predictive frameworks of plant-fungal relationships. Furthermore, we highlight how key limitations in our understanding of fungal function may obscure previously unmeasured plant-fungal interactions.
Highlights
Soil fungi are highly diverse and drive many critical ecosystem functions (Blackwell, 2011; Frac et al, 2018), including nutrient cycling (Gui et al, 2017) and the decomposition (Zak et al, 2019) and stabilisation of soil organic matter (Clemmensen et al, 2013)
We observed significant phylogenetic signal within the trait data, plant trait plasticity was not structured by plant phylogenetic relatedness (Table S3)
14.6% of associated sequences variants (ASVs) were annotated with a functional guild with 361, 98 and 643 ASVs identified as saprotrophs, pathotrophs or arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), respectively, with an average relative abundance of 4.06%, 0.96% and 4.70%
Summary
Soil fungi are highly diverse and drive many critical ecosystem functions (Blackwell, 2011; Frac et al, 2018), including nutrient cycling (Gui et al, 2017) and the decomposition (Zak et al, 2019) and stabilisation of soil organic matter (Clemmensen et al, 2013) Through their many complex interactions with plant roots, fungi aid plant nutrient acquisition (Averill et al, 2019), pathogen (Marx, 1972) and drought resistance (Jayne & Quigley, 2014), and play a key role in shaping plant productivity and community dynamics (Mommer et al, 2018; Liang et al, 2020). Significant uncertainty remains around the importance of plant phylogeny in explaining rhizosphere fungal community composition, with studies both providing support (Barberan et al, 2015; Schroeder et al, 2019) or not (Leff et al, 2018) for its role
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
