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Nutrient enrichment effects on mycorrhizal fungi in an Andean tropical montane Forest

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Abstract

Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) deposition are increasing worldwide largely due to increased fertilizer use and fossil fuel combustion. Most work with N and P deposition in natural ecosystems has focused on temperate, highly industrialized, regions. Tropical regions are becoming more developed, releasing large amounts of these nutrients into the atmosphere. Nutrient enrichment in nutrient-poor systems such as tropical montane forest can represent a relatively large shift in nutrient availability, especially for sensitive microorganisms such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). These symbiotic fungi are particularly critical, given their key role in ecosystem processes affecting plant community structure and function.

To better understand the consequences of nutrient deposition in plant communities, a long-term nutrient addition experiment was set up in a tropical montane forest in the Andes of southern Ecuador. In this study, we investigated the impacts of 7 years of elevated N and P on AMF root colonization potential (AMF-RCP) through a greenhouse bait plant method in which we quantified root colonization. We also examined the relationship between AMF-RCP and rarefied tree diversity.

After 7 years of nutrient addition, AMF-RCP was negatively correlated with soil P, positively correlated with soil N, and positively correlated with rarefied tree diversity. Our results show that AMF in this tropical montane forest are directly affected by soil N and P concentrations, but may also be indirectly impacted by shifts in rarefied tree diversity. Our research also highlights the need to fully understand the benefits and drawbacks of using different sampling methods (e.g., AMF-RCP versus direct root sampling) to robustly examine AMF-plant interactions in the future.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the Ministry of the Environment of Zamora, Ecuador, for allowing us to carry out our research. Sample collection was authorized under permit 0012-IC-FAU/FLO-DPZCH-MA from the Ministry of the Environment of Zamora, Ecuador; sample export was authorized under permit no. 3075376 from the Ministry of Agriculture, Ranching, Aquaculture, and Fisheries. The Ecuadorian Nutrient Manipulation Experiment was established and is maintained by funds from the German Research Foundation DFG (current project Ho3296/4).

In addition, we greatly thank Joseph Morton and the International Culture Collection of (Vesicular) Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (INVAM) for research input throughout this study. We recognize contribution from Craig Brodersen for lab resources, Dan Maynard for statistical support, and Marlyse Duguid for fruitful discussion and editing. We are grateful for comments on this manuscript by the Ashton, Comita, and Klironomos labs. We would also like to thank two anonymous reviewers and the editor for exceptional comments on this manuscript. Funding for this project was made available by the Yale Tropical Resources Institute, the Jubitz Family Endowment for Research Internships Fund, the F&ES Carpenter-Sperry Internship and Research Fund, and the Tinker Foundation through the Council on Latin American & Iberian Studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, 195 Prospect St, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA

    Camille S. Delavaux, Mark Ashton & Simon A. Queenborough

  2. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Room 9, Takeru Higuchi Hall, Lawrence, KS, 66047, USA

    Camille S. Delavaux

  3. Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Altensteinstr. 6, 14195, Berlin, Germany

    Tessa Camenzind

  4. Berlin- Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Plant Ecology, 14195, Berlin, Germany

    Tessa Camenzind

  5. Albrecht von Haller Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Göttingen, Untere Karspüle 2, 37073, Göttingen, Germany

    Jürgen Homeier

  6. Laboratorio de Ecología de Plantas, Escuela de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Av. 12 de octubre 1076 y Roca, Apdo. 17-01-2184, Quito, Ecuador

    Rosa Jiménez-Paz

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  1. Camille S. Delavaux
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  2. Tessa Camenzind
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Correspondence to Camille S. Delavaux.

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Delavaux, C.S., Camenzind, T., Homeier, J. et al. Nutrient enrichment effects on mycorrhizal fungi in an Andean tropical montane Forest. Mycorrhiza 27, 311–319 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-016-0749-5

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