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Weather modifies the spatial extent of carbohydrate transfers from CO2-supplied broad-leaved trees to ectomycorrhizal fungi

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A Correction to this article was published on 23 October 2023

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Abstract

Background

Weather conditions and fungal morphology may influence spatial and temporal dynamics of carbon transfer to ectomycorrhizal fungi from their tree hosts but field studies of these dynamics are challenging.

Methods

Broad-leaved trees in a Swiss forest were labeled with 13C-depleted CO2 from 2001–2005 and 13C traced into ectomycorrhizal sporocarps collected at different distances from those trees. We then correlated distance (zone), year, fungal genus, fungal morphology, and solar radiation against sporocarp δ13C and loge C/N in stepwise regressions.

Results

CO2-supplied trees contributed 71 ± 5%, 32 ± 6%, and 19 ± 7% of sporocarp carbon at 0–6, 6–12, and 12–18 m from these trees, respectively. Fungal morphology (rhizomorph presence and ectomycorrhizae hydrophobicity) was uncorrelated with fungal carbon acquisition. After drought in 2003, CO2-supplied trees contributed less carbon in 2004 than in other years to sporocarps and sporocarp loge C/N decreased. In contrast, sporocarp loge C/N peaked in 2005 and contributions from CO2-labeled trees to the 6–12 and 12–18 m zones increased. Solar radiation with a 14–21 day lag correlated negatively with loge C/N. Sporocarp loge C/N correlated positively with δ13C at 0–6 m and negatively elsewhere.

Conclusions

These patterns indicated: 1) fungal morphology did not affect carbon transfers, 2) carbohydrates rather than amino acids were transferred across zones to sporocarps (inferred from spatial correlations of loge C/N and δ13C), 3) sporocarp δ13C and loge C/N reflected the last 2–3 weeks of photosynthesis; 4) summer drought and plant allocation influenced the quantity and spatial extent of belowground transfer.

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Data Availability

Data for the study are archived at Mendeley Data, https://doi.org/10.17632/yzcm5vmxf8.1.

Code availability

Not applicable.

Change history

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Acknowledgements

The CO2 enrichment experiment was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation projects 3100-059769.99, 3100-067775.02 and 5005-65755 (NCCR Climate), and the Swiss Canopy Crane by the Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forest and Landscape. A grant from the US National Science Foundation (DEB-1146328) also supported this work, as did support from Fulbright Austria. We thank Nick Rosenstock, Talia Michaud, and Anna Polyakov for helpful suggestions on the manuscript.

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Author notes

  1. Sonja G. Keel

    Present address: Climate and Agriculture Group, Agroscope, 8046, Zurich, Switzerland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Earth Systems Research Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA

    Erik A. Hobbie

  2. Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

    Rolf Siegwolf, Katharina Steinmann & Matthias Saurer

  3. Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institute, CH-5232, Villigen PSI, Switzerland

    Rolf Siegwolf & Matthias Saurer

  4. Institute of Botany, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, Schönbeinstrasse 6, 4056, Basel, Switzerland

    Christian Körner & Sonja G. Keel

  5. Verein Für Pilzkunde Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Markus Wilhelm

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Contributions

CK, MS, and RS planned and designed the research. SGK, and KS performed experiments and conducted fieldwork, MW identified fungal species, MW and EAH assigned fungal associations, EAH analyzed the data, all authors wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Erik A. Hobbie.

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Responsible Editor: Xinhua He.

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Author Contributions: RS, CK, and MS conceived and designed the experiments. KS SGK, and MS conducted fieldwork, MW identified sporocarps, EAH analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; all authors provided editorial advice.

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Hobbie, E.A., Siegwolf, R., Körner, C. et al. Weather modifies the spatial extent of carbohydrate transfers from CO2-supplied broad-leaved trees to ectomycorrhizal fungi. Plant Soil 494, 717–730 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-023-06314-x

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