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Weak habitat specificity in ectomycorrhizal communities associated with Salix herbacea and Salix polaris in alpine tundra

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Abstract

This study explores mid-alpine ectomycorrhizal communities on Salix herbacea and Salix polaris in plant communities differing in nutrient status and snow conditions. Plant species were identified by tracking roots back to above ground structures while fungal species were identified using molecular methods. The fungi were identified to 34 molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs)/species but species accumulation curves indicated that the communities were only partially sampled. The estimated total species richness was 49 (±9 SD) MOTUs/species. No significant ectomycorrhizal community specificity was found between the two plant species and only weak specificity between different plant communities. Furthermore, no difference in proportion of colonized root tips could be demonstrated between plant communities. However, some fungal taxa showed tendencies to associate with specific environmental conditions. Sebacinaceae, Inocybe egenula, Russula cf. emetica, and a Tomentella sp. were found in meadow communities but not in the heath communities. Sistotrema cf. alboluteum and Tomentella cf. terrestris were only found in the dry and mesic heath communities. Classifications into exploration types showed that the contact type is more abundant in the dry heath community than the other communities. Cenococcum geophilum was the most common species but Cortinarius spp., Russula spp., Tomentella spp., and Lactarius spp. were also common. This study confirms that alpine communities are rich in ectomycorrhizal fungi including species from a wide variety of fungal lineages and also show that many dominant species have wide ecological amplitude.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Josephine Rodriguez and two reviewers for comments and suggestions on earlier drafts of this paper. Financial support was received from Helge Ax:son-Johnsons foundation and Kapten Carl Stenholms donationsfond.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, P.O. Box 461, 405 30, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Martin Ryberg, Mathias Andreasen & Robert G. Björk

  2. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Hesler 334, Knoxville, TN, 37996-1610, USA

    Martin Ryberg

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  1. Martin Ryberg
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Correspondence to Martin Ryberg.

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Table of MOTUs/species and in which plant communities they were collected (DOC 135 kb)

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Ryberg, M., Andreasen, M. & Björk, R.G. Weak habitat specificity in ectomycorrhizal communities associated with Salix herbacea and Salix polaris in alpine tundra. Mycorrhiza 21, 289–296 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-010-0335-1

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