Abstract
Plant/soil microbial community feedback can have important consequences for species composition of both the plant and soil microbial communities, however, changes in nutrient availability may alter plant reliance on mycorrhizal fungi. In this research, we tested whether plant/soil community feedback occurs and if increased soil fertility altered the plant/soil community interactions. In two greenhouse experiments we assessed plant and AM fungal performance in response to different soils (and their microbial communities), collected from under three co-occurring plants in serpentine grasslands, and nutrient treatments. The first experiment consisted of two plant species (Andropogon gerardii, Sorghastrum nutans), their soil communities, and three nutrient treatments (control, calcium, N-P-K), while the second experiment used three plant species (first two and Schizachyrium scoparium), their soil communities collected from a different site, and two nutrient treatments (control, N-P-K). Plant/soil community feedback was observed with two of the three species and was significantly affected by nutrient enrichment. Negative Sorghastrum/soil feedback was removed with the addition of N-P-K fertilizer at both sites. Andropogon/soil feedback varied between sites and nutrient treatments, while no differential Schizachyrium growth relative to soil community was observed. Addition of N-P-K fertilizer to the nutrient poor serpentine soils increased plant biomass production and affected plant/soil community interactions. Calcium addition did not affect plant biomass, but was associated with significant increases in fungal colonization regardless of plant species or soil community. Our results indicate that nutrient enrichment affected plant/soil community feedback, which has the potential to affect plant and soil community structure.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allen MF 1996 The ecology of mycorrhizae. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Anderson R C and Liberta A E 1992 Influence of supplemental inorganic nutrients on growth, survivorship, and mycorrhizal relationships of Schizachyrium scoparium (Poaceae) grown in fumigated and unfumigated soil. Am. J. Bot. 79, 406–414.
Anderson R C and Liberta A E 1989 Growth of little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) (Poaceae) in fumigated and nonfumigated soils under various inorganic nutrient conditions. Am. J. Bot. 76, 95–104.
Anderson R C, Hetrick B A D and Wilson G W T 1994 Mycorrhizal dependence of Andropogon gerardii and Schizachyrium scoparium in two prairie soils. Am. Midl. Natural. 132, 366–376.
Bever J D 1994 Feedback between plants and their soil communities in an old field community. Ecology 75, 1965–1977.
Bever J D 1999 Dynamics within mutualism and the maintenance of diversity: Inference from a model of interguild frequency dependence. Ecol. Lett. 2, 52–61.
Bever J D 2002 Negative feedback within a mutualism: Hostspecific growth of mycorrhizal fungi reduces plant benefit. Proc. Royal Soc. London Ser. B 269, 2595–2601.
Bever J D, Westover K M and Antonovics J 1997 Incorporating the soil community into plant population dynamics: the utility of the feedback approach. J. Ecol. 85, 561–573.
Bever J D, Pringle A and Schultz P A 2002 Dynamics within the plant-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal mutualism: testing the nature of community feedback. In Mycorrhizal Ecology. Eds. M G A van der Heijden and I R Sanders. pp. 267–292. Springer Verlag, New York.
Bever J D, Morton J B, Antonovics J and Schultz P A 1996 Host-dependent sporulation and species diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in a mown grassland. J. Ecol. 84, 71–82.
Blee K A and Anderson A J 2000 Defense responses in plants to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. In Current Advances in Mycorrhizae Research. Eds. G K Podila and D D Douds Jr. pp. 27–44. APS Press, St. Paul.
Brooks R T 1987 Serpentine and its vegetation: a multidisciplinary approach. Dioscorides Press, Portland.
Bruehl G W 1987 Soilborne Plant Pathogens. Macmillan Publishing Co., New York.
Castelli J P 2001 Negative mycorrhizal feedback and plant species coexistence in a serpentine grassland. Ph.D. thesis, University of Pennsylvania.
Castelli J P and Casper B B 2003 Intraspecific AM fungal variation contributes to plant/fungal feedback in a serpentine grassland. Ecology 84, 323–336.
Douds D D and Schenck N C 1990 Relationship of colonization and sporulation by VA mycorrhizal fungi to plant nutrient and carbohydrate content. New Phytol. 116, 621–627.
Gange A C and Brown V K 2002 Action and interaction of soil invertebrates and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in affecting the structure of plant communities. In Mycorrhizal Ecology. Eds. M G A van der Heijden and I R Sanders. pp. 321–344. Springer Verlag, New York.
Gange A C, Stagg P G and Ward L K 2002 Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi affect phytophagous insect specialism. Ecol. Lett. 5, 11–15.
Graham J H and Abbott L K 2000 Wheat responses to aggressive and non-aggressive arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Plant Soil 220, 207–218.
Great Plains Flora Association 1986 Flora of the Great Plains, University of Kansas Press, Lawrence.
Gustafson D J, Gibson D J and Nickrent D L 1999 Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) variation among remnant big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman) populations from Arkansas' Grand Prairie. Mol. Ecol. 8, 1693–1701.
Gustafson D J, Romano G, Latham R E and Morton J K (2003) Amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis of genetic relationships among the serpentine barrens endemic Cerastium velutinum Rafinesque var. villosissimum Pennell (Caryophyllaceae) and closely related Cerastium species. J. Torrey Bot. Soc. 130, 218–223.
Hamilton E W and Frank D A 2001 Can plants stimulate soil microbes and their own nutrient supply: evidence from a grazing tolerant grass. Ecology 82, 2397–2402.
Hart M M and Reader R J 2002 Taxonomic basis for variation in the colonization strategy of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. New Phytol. 153, 335–344.
Hetrick B A D, Kitt D G and Wilson G T 1986 The influence of phosphorus fertilization, drought, fungal species, and nonsterile soil on mycorrhizal growth response in tallgrass prairie plants. Can. J. Bot. 64, 1199–1203.
Jakobsen I, Smith S E and Smith F A 2002 Function and diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizae in carbon and mineral nutrition. In Mycorrhizal Ecology. Eds. M G A van der Heijden and I R Sanders. pp. 75–92. Springer Verlag, New York.
Johnson N C 1993 Can fertilization of soil select less mutualistic mycorrhizae? Ecol. Appl. 3, 749–757.
Johnson N C, Graham J H and Smith F A 1997 Functioning of mycorrhizal associations along the mutualism-parasitism continuum. New Phytol. 135, 575–585.
Johnson N C, Zak D R, Tilman D and Pfleger F L 1991 Dynamics of vescular-arbuscular mycorrhizae during old field succession. Oecologia 86, 349–358.
Johnson N C, Tilman D and Pfleger F L 1992 Plant and soil controls on mycorrhizal fungal communities. Ecology 73, 2034–2042.
Kiers E T, Lovelock C E, Krueger E L and Herre E A 2000 Differential effects of tropical mycorrhizal fungal inocula on root colonization and tree seedling growth: implications for tropical forest diversity. Ecol. Lett. 3, 106–113.
Kitt D G, Hetrick B A D and Wilson G W T 1988 Relationship of soil fertility to suppression of the growth response of mycorrhizal big bluestem in non-sterile soil. New Phytol. 109, 473–481.
Klironomos J N 2002 Feedback with soil biota contributes to plant rarity and invasiveness in communities. Nature 417, 67–70.
Latham R E 1993 The serpentine barrens of temperate eastern North America: critical issues in the management of rare species and communities. Bartonia 57(suppl.), 61–74.
Marschner H 1995 Mineral nutrients of higher plants. Academic Press, New York.
McGonigle T P, Miller M H and Evans D G 1990 A new method which gives an objective measure of colonization of roots by vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. New Phytol. 115, 495–501.
Mills K E and Bever J D 1998 Maintenance of diversity within plant communities: soil pathogens as agents of negative feedback. Ecology 79, 1595–1601.
Molofsky J, Bever J D and Antonvics J 2001 Coexistence under positive frequency dependence. Proc. Royal Soc. London Ser. B 268, 273–277.
Pearson J N and Jakobsen I 1993 The relative contribution of hyphae and roots to phosphorus uptake by arbuscular mycorrhizal plants, measured by dual labelling with 32P and 33P. New Phytol. 124, 489–494.
Schultz P A, Miller R M, Jastrow J D, Rivetta C V and Bever J D 2001 Evidence of a mycorrhizal mechanism for the adaptation of Andropogon gerardii (Poaceae) to high-and low-nutrient prairies. Am. J. Bot. 88, 1650–1656.
Smith S E and Read D J 1997 Mycorrhizal symbiosis. Academic Press, San Diego.
Treseder K K and Allen M F 2002 Direct nitrogen and phosphorus limitation of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi: a model and field test. New Phytol. 155, 507–515.
Tyndall R W and Hull J C 1999 Vegetation, flora, and plant physiological ecology of serpentine barrens of eastern North America. In Savannas, Barrens, and Rock Outcrop Plant Communities of North America. Eds. R C Anderson, J S Fralish and J M Baskin. pp. 67–82. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
van der Heijden M G A 2002 Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi as a determinant of plant diversity: in search for underlying mechanisms and general principles. In Mycorrhizal Ecology. Eds. M G A van der Heijden and I R Sanders. pp. 243–265. Springer Verlag, New York.
van der Heijden M G A, Boller T, Wiemken A and Sanders I R 1998a Different arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal species are potential determinants of plant community structure. Ecology 79, 2082–2091.
van der Heijden M G A, Klironomos J N, Ursic M, Moutoglis P, Streitwolf-Engel R, Boller T, Wiemken A and Sanders I R 1998b Mycorrhizal fungal diversity determines plant biodiversity, ecosystem variability and productivity. Nature 396, 69–72.
Van der Putten W H and Peters B A M 1997 How soil-borne pathogens may affect plant competition. Ecology 78, 1785–1795.
Van der Putten W H, Van Dijk C and Peters B A M 1993 Plant-specific soil-borne diseases contribute to succession in foredune vegetation. Nature 362, 53–56.
Westover K M and Bever J D 2001 Mechanisms of plant species coexistence: roles of rhizosphere bacteria and root fungal pathogens. Ecology 82, 3285–3294.
Westover K M, Kennedy A C and Kelley S E 1997 Patterns of rhizosphere microbial community structure associated with co-occurring plant species. J. Ecol. 85, 863–873.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gustafson, D.J., Casper, B.B. Nutrient addition affects AM fungal performance and expression of plant/fungal feedback in three serpentine grasses. Plant and Soil 259, 9–17 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:PLSO.0000020936.56786.a4
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:PLSO.0000020936.56786.a4