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Fertility-dependent effects of ectomycorrhizal fungal communities on white spruce seedling nutrition

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Abstract

Ectomycorrhizal fungi (EcMF) typically colonize nursery seedlings, but nutritional and growth effects of these communities are only partly understood. To examine these effects, Picea glauca seedlings collected from a tree nursery naturally colonized by three dominant EcMF were divided between fertilized and unfertilized treatments. After one growing season seedlings were harvested, ectomycorrhizas identified using DNA sequencing, and seedlings analyzed for leaf nutrient concentration and content, and biomass parameters. EcMF community structure–nutrient interactions were tested using nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) combined with vector analysis of foliar nutrients and biomass. We identified three dominant species: Amphinema sp., Atheliaceae sp., and Thelephora terrestris. NMDS + envfit revealed significant community effects on seedling nutrition that differed with fertilization treatment. PERMANOVA and regression analyses uncovered significant species effects on host nutrient concentration, content, and stoichiometry. Amphinema sp. had a significant positive effect on phosphorus (P), calcium and zinc concentration, and P content; in contrast, T. terrestris had a negative effect on P concentration. In the unfertilized treatment, percent abundance of the Amphinema sp. negatively affected foliar nitrogen (N) concentration but not content, and reduced foliar N/P. In fertilized seedlings, Amphinema sp. was positively related to foliar concentrations of N, magnesium, and boron, and both concentration and content of manganese, and Atheliaceae sp. had a negative relationship with P content. Findings shed light on the community and species effects on seedling condition, revealing clear functional differences among dominants. The approach used should be scalable to explore function in more complex communities composed of unculturable EcMF.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Christy Makuck and the US Forest Service J.W. Toumey Nursery staff for providing us with the seedlings used in the present study; Urmas Kõljalg for assistance with implementation of species hypotheses; Justina Silva, Jesse Barta, and Nick Holmes for their assistance; and Amy Marcarelli, Dana Richter, Heljä-Sisko Helmisaari, and Diane Haase for feedback on this manuscript. Financial support for this work was provided by US Forest Service, Northern Research Station; USDA National Research Initiative Competitive Grant 2006-35107-17228; Michigan Technological University Ecosystem Science Center; and the EU-US Atlantis program for support for AJS.

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  1. Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend Dr, Houghton, MI, 49931, USA

    Alistair J. H. Smith II

  2. Northern Research Station, US Forest Service, 410 MacInnes Drive, Houghton, MI, 49931-1199, USA

    Lynette R. Potvin & Erik A. Lilleskov

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  1. Alistair J. H. Smith II
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  2. Lynette R. Potvin
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Correspondence to Erik A. Lilleskov.

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Smith, A.J.H., Potvin, L.R. & Lilleskov, E.A. Fertility-dependent effects of ectomycorrhizal fungal communities on white spruce seedling nutrition. Mycorrhiza 25, 649–662 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-015-0640-9

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