TY - JOUR

T1 - Mycorrhizal type and tree diversity affect foliar elemental pools and stoichiometry

AU - Bönisch, Elisabeth

AU - Blagodatskaya, Evgenia

AU - Dirzo, Rodolfo

AU - Ferlian, Olga

AU - Fichtner, Andreas

AU - Huang, Yuanyuan

AU - Leonard, Samuel J.

AU - Maestre, Fernando T.

AU - von Oheimb, Goddert

AU - Ray, Tama

AU - Eisenhauer, Nico

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2024 New Phytologist Foundation.

PY - 2024/5

Y1 - 2024/5

N2 - Species-specific differences in nutrient acquisition strategies allow for complementary use of resources among plants in mixtures, which may be further shaped by mycorrhizal associations. However, empirical evidence of this potential role of mycorrhizae is scarce, particularly for tree communities. We investigated the impact of tree species richness and mycorrhizal types, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AM) and ectomycorrhizal fungi (EM), on above- and belowground carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) dynamics. Soil and soil microbial biomass elemental dynamics showed weak responses to tree species richness and none to mycorrhizal type. However, foliar elemental concentrations, stoichiometry, and pools were significantly affected by both treatments. Tree species richness increased foliar C and P pools but not N pools. Additive partitioning analyses showed that net biodiversity effects of foliar C, N, P pools in EM tree communities were driven by selection effects, but in mixtures of both mycorrhizal types by complementarity effects. Furthermore, increased tree species richness reduced soil nitrate availability, over 2 yr. Our results indicate that positive effects of tree diversity on aboveground nutrient storage are mediated by complementary mycorrhizal strategies and highlight the importance of using mixtures composed of tree species with different types of mycorrhizae to achieve more multifunctional afforestation.

AB - Species-specific differences in nutrient acquisition strategies allow for complementary use of resources among plants in mixtures, which may be further shaped by mycorrhizal associations. However, empirical evidence of this potential role of mycorrhizae is scarce, particularly for tree communities. We investigated the impact of tree species richness and mycorrhizal types, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AM) and ectomycorrhizal fungi (EM), on above- and belowground carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) dynamics. Soil and soil microbial biomass elemental dynamics showed weak responses to tree species richness and none to mycorrhizal type. However, foliar elemental concentrations, stoichiometry, and pools were significantly affected by both treatments. Tree species richness increased foliar C and P pools but not N pools. Additive partitioning analyses showed that net biodiversity effects of foliar C, N, P pools in EM tree communities were driven by selection effects, but in mixtures of both mycorrhizal types by complementarity effects. Furthermore, increased tree species richness reduced soil nitrate availability, over 2 yr. Our results indicate that positive effects of tree diversity on aboveground nutrient storage are mediated by complementary mycorrhizal strategies and highlight the importance of using mixtures composed of tree species with different types of mycorrhizae to achieve more multifunctional afforestation.

KW - Ecosystems Research

KW - biodiversity effects

KW - mycorrhizal fungi

KW - MyDiv

KW - nutrient dynamics

KW - plant-soil interaction

KW - tree species richness

KW - biodiversity effects

KW - mycorrhizal fungi

KW - MyDiv

KW - nutrient dynamics

KW - plant–soil interaction

KW - tree species richness

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85190414655&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/36160587-2562-3dbe-9a0b-856184264ff3/

U2 - 10.1111/nph.19732

DO - 10.1111/nph.19732

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 242

SP - 1614

EP - 1629

JO - New Phytologist

JF - New Phytologist

SN - 0028-646X

IS - 4

ER -