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Carbon and nitrogen fluxes between beech and their ectomycorrhizal assemblage

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Abstract

To determine the exchange of nitrogen and carbon between ectomycorrhiza and host plant, young beech (Fagus sylvatica) trees from natural regeneration in intact soil cores were labelled for one growing season in a greenhouse with 13CO2 and 15NO3 15NH4. The specific enrichments of 15N and 13C were higher in ectomycorrhizas (EMs) than in any other tissue. The enrichments of 13C and 15N were also higher in the fine-root segments directly connected with the EM (mainly second-order roots) than that in bulk fine or coarse roots. A strict, positive correlation was found between the specific 15N enrichment in EM and the attached second-order roots. This finding indicates that strong N accumulators provide more N to their host than low N accumulators. A significant correlation was also found for the specific 13C enrichment in EM and the attached second-order roots. However, the specific enrichments for 15N and 13C in EM were unrelated showing that under long-term conditions, C and N exchange between host and EMs are uncoupled. These findings suggest that EM-mediated N flux to the plant is not the main control on carbon flux to the fungus, probably because EMs provide many different services to their hosts in addition to N provision in their natural assemblages.

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Acknowledgments

This project was funded by the Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony and the ‘Niedersächsisches Vorab’ as part of the Cluster of Excellence ‘Functional Biodiversity Research’. We are grateful to the administration of Hainich National Park for permission to excavate tree saplings within the Hainich forest. We thank J. Dyckmans from the Kompetenzzentrum für Stabile Isotope (KOSI, University of Göttingen) for measuring the stable isotopes.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Author notes

  1. Friderike Beyer

    Present address: Department of Crop Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Ulls väg 16, 75007, Uppsala, Sweden

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Büsgen Institute, Forest Botany and Tree Physiology, Georg August University Göttingen, Büsgenweg 2, 37077, Göttingen, Germany

    Kerttu Valtanen & Andrea Polle

  2. J.F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, Animal Ecology, Georg August University Göttingen, Berliner Str. 28, 37073, Göttingen, Germany

    Verena Eissfeller & Stefan Scheu

  3. Albrecht von Haller Institute for Plant Sciences, Plant Ecology and Ecosystems Research, Untere Karspüle 2, Georg August University Göttingen, 37073, Göttingen, Germany

    Friderike Beyer & Dietrich Hertel

Authors
  1. Kerttu Valtanen
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  2. Verena Eissfeller
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  3. Friderike Beyer
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  4. Dietrich Hertel
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  5. Stefan Scheu
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  6. Andrea Polle
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrea Polle.

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Valtanen, K., Eissfeller, V., Beyer, F. et al. Carbon and nitrogen fluxes between beech and their ectomycorrhizal assemblage. Mycorrhiza 24, 645–650 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-014-0581-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-014-0581-8

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