Chewing up the Wood-Wide Web: Selective Grazing on Ectomycorrhizal Fungi by Collembola

Forests

Clarisse Kanters²  Ian C. Anderson³  David Johnson²  Burenjargal Otgonsuren¹ 

[1] Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Cruickshank Building, St. Machar Drive, Aberdeen AB24 3UU, UK; E-Mail;Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Cruickshank Building, St. Machar Drive, Aberdeen AB24 3UU, UK; E-Mail:;Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, University of Western Sydney, Penrith, NSW 1797, Australia; E-Mail:

关键词: biodiversity;    soil invertebrates;    multitrophic interactions;    carbon turnover;    selective grazing;    pulse-labelling;    ¹⁴CO₂;   

DOI  :  10.3390/f6082560

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The mycelia of some symbiotic ectomycorrhizal fungi form extensive networks—the so called “wood-wide web”—that have key roles in biogeochemical cycling. By interacting with myriad soil organisms such as collembola, the fungi directly affect the functioning of above- and below-ground multitrophic interactions in ecosystems. Here we tested whether the grazing activities of collembola affected the growth of ectomycorrhizal fungi in single or mixed species axenic cultures, and their impact on ectomycorrhizal diversity in litterbags in the field. We also used ¹⁴CO₂ pulse-labelling to test the effects of collembola on respiratory losses of recent plant assimilate from external mycelium of ectomycorrhizal fungi in symbiosis with Scots pine or birch. We found that the effects of collembola varied across species, and caused a significant reduction in the amount of ¹⁴CO₂ released from external mycorrhizal mycelium from three of the eight species combinations but increased it in one. Selective grazing also significantly affected the community structure of ectomycorrhizal fungi. Our findings demonstrate the importance of collembola in regulating ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity and activity and below-ground pathways of carbon flow.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.