Spatial and temporal ecology of Scots pine ectomycorrhizas

B. J. Pickles, David R. Genney, Jacqueline M. Potts, Jack J. Lennon, Ian C. Anderson, Ian J. Alexander

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

    114 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Spatial analysis was used to explore the distribution of individual species in an ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal community to address: whether mycorrhizas of individual ECM fungal species were patchily distributed, and at what scale; and what the causes of this patchiness might be. Ectomycorrhizas were extracted from spatially explicit samples of the surface organic horizons of a pine plantation. The number of mycorrhizas of each ECM fungal species was recorded using morphotyping combined with internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequencing. Semivariograms, kriging and cluster analyses were used to determine both the extent and scale of spatial autocorrelation in species abundances, potential interactions between species, and change over time. The mycorrhizas of some, but not all, ECM fungal species were patchily distributed and the size of patches differed between species. The relative abundance of individual ECM fungal species and the position of patches of ectomycorrhizas changed between years. Spatial and temporal analysis revealed a dynamic ECM fungal community with many interspecific interactions taking place, despite the homogeneity of the host community. The spatial pattern of mycorrhizas was influenced by the underlying distribution of fine roots, but local root density was in turn influenced by the presence of specific fungal species.
    Original languageEnglish
    Number of pages14
    JournalNew Phytologist
    Publication statusPublished - 2010

    Keywords

    • Pinus sylvestris
    • cenococcum
    • cluster analysis
    • ectomycorrhizal ecology
    • geostatistics
    • spatial autocorrelation

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Spatial and temporal ecology of Scots pine ectomycorrhizas'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this