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Feldspar Tunneling by Fungi along Natural Productivity Gradients

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Abstract

Recently, it was hypothesized that ectomycorrhizas hyphae are involved in mineral tunneling. We evaluated the role of ectomycorrhizas in mineral weathering and the ecosystem influx of basic cations by correlating mineral tunnel density to ectomycorrhizas density in two forest productivity gradients. The gradients, two gentle slopes in northern Sweden, are the result of groundwater movement and are characterized by reduced productivity upslope due to lower nitrogen availability. As expected, ectomycorrhizas density in the O horizon was higher upslope, where nitrogen availability was lower and where the vegetation was dominated by ectomycorrhizas plant species. We consistently found that tunnel formation in mineral grains was more intense in nutrient-poor sites, indicating a higher contribution of fungi to ecosystem influx of potassium and calcium. ectomycorrhizas density was positively correlated with feldspar tunnel density in the upper 2 cm of the E horizon. This suggests that ectomycorrhizas are involved in mineral tunneling. We discuss the possible involvement of ericoid mycorrhizas and saprotrophic fungi in feldspar tunneling and the role of the weathering status of mineral grains as additional factors controlling mineral funneling.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Lars Ola Nilsson and Dr. Håkan Wallander (Department of Microbial Ecology, Lund University, Sweden) for sharing unpublished results. Willeke van Tintelen, Jan van Doesburg, and Arie van Dijk provided expert technical assistance. E.H. received financial support from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). R.G. was supported in part by the Carl Trygger Foundation.

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  1. Ellis Hoffland

    Present address: present address: Department of Soil Quality, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 8005, 6700 EC Wageningen, the Netherlands

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Soil Science and Geology, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 37, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Ellis Hoffland, Antoine G. Jongmans & Nico van Breemen

  2. Department of Forest Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Science, 901 83 Umeå, Sweden

    Reiner Giesler

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  1. Ellis Hoffland
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  4. Nico van Breemen
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Correspondence to Ellis Hoffland.

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Hoffland, E., Giesler, R., Jongmans, A. et al. Feldspar Tunneling by Fungi along Natural Productivity Gradients . Ecosystems 6, 739–746 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-003-0191-3

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