Mycorrhizal type and tree diversity affect foliar elemental pools and stoichiometry

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

  • Elisabeth Bönisch
  • Evgenia Blagodatskaya
  • Rodolfo Dirzo
  • Olga Ferlian
  • Andreas Fichtner
  • Yuanyuan Huang
  • Samuel J. Leonard
  • Fernando T. Maestre
  • Goddert von Oheimb
  • Tama Ray
  • Nico Eisenhauer

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.

Original languageEnglish
JournalNew Phytologist
Volume242
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)1614-1629
Number of pages16
ISSN0028-646X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 05.2024

Bibliographical note

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

    Research areas

  • Ecosystems Research - biodiversity effects, mycorrhizal fungi, MyDiv, nutrient dynamics, plant–soil interaction, tree species richness

DOI