What are mycorrhizal traits?
Research output: Journal contributions › Comments / Debate / Reports › Research
Authors
Traits are inherent properties of organisms, but how are they defined for organismal networks such as mycorrhizal symbioses? Mycorrhizal symbioses are complex and diverse belowground symbioses between plants and fungi that have proved challenging to fit into a unified and coherent trait framework. We propose an inclusive mycorrhizal trait framework that classifies traits as morphological, physiological, and phenological features that have functional implications for the symbiosis. We further classify mycorrhizal traits by location – plant, fungus, or the symbiosis – which highlights new questions in trait-based mycorrhizal ecology designed to charge and challenge the scientific community. This new framework is an opportunity for researchers to interrogate their data to identify novel insights and gaps in our understanding of mycorrhizal symbioses.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Trends in Ecology and Evolution |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| Pages (from-to) | 573-581 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| ISSN | 0169-5347 |
| DOIs |
|
| Publication status | Published - 01.07.2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:
Concepts for this paper were conceived during iCOMET, a workshop and international Collaboration on Mycorrhizal Ecological Traits held virtually in March 2020. The authors are grateful to Linh Anh Cat and Natasa Sibanc for contributing to initial discussions, and to Alastair Fitter for providing helpful comments on the manuscript. We thank Pierre-Luc Chagnon, Guillermo Bueno, and two anonymous reviewers for constructive comments that greatly improved the manuscript. We also appreciate and recognize research that could not be included in this paper due to space limitations. The iCOMET workshop was supported by the Natural Environmental Research Council (grant number NE/S008543/1). V.B.C. is supported by the National Science Foundation (award DEB-1844531). L.N. was supported by the Marie Skłodowska Curie Individual Fellowship (MYFUN, Grant agreement ID: 835472). No interests are declared.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd
- community ecology, ecosystem function, fungal traits, mycorrhizas, plant traits, symbiosis
- Biology