Carbon sequestration and community composition of ectomycorrhizal fungi across a geothermal warming gradient in an Icelandic spruce forest

• Published in: Fungal Ecology
• Main Authors: Rosenstock, Nicholas, Ellström, Magnus, Oddsdóttir, Edda Sigurdís, Sigurdsson, Bjarni D., Wallander, Håkan
• Other Authors: Auðlinda- og umhverfisdeild (LBHÍ), Faculty of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences (AUI), Landbúnaðarháskóli Íslands, Agricultural University of Iceland
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier BV 2019
• Subjects: Ecological Modelling; Plant Science; Ecology; Soil warming; Vistfræði; Plöntuvistfræði; Kolefnisbinding; Iceland
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/1264; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.funeco.2018.05.010

Part of special issue: Ecology of Mycorrhizas in the Anthropocene Edited by Petr Kohout, Jan Jansa Soil warming (0–5.5 °C above controls) effects on ectomycorrhizal growth, carbon sequestration and community composition were examined in a Picea sitchensis forest spanning a geothermal gradient in Iceland. Fungal communities were assayed with sand-filled ingrowth meshbags incubated in the soil for 5 months. Meshbags amended with compost made from maize leaves (a C4 plant enriched in 13C) were incubated for 5 or 12 months and used to estimate C sequestration by the fungal community. Despite increases in tree growth, moderate warming only slightly reduced or had no effect on mycelial growth and had no effect on fungal carbon sequestration or overall ectomycorrhizal community composition. Warming was associated with increased abundance of ascomycetes, particularly pyronemataceous ectomycorrhizal fungi, and altered saprotrophic community composition. Increased nitrate availability and root turnover may explain the lack of a positive ectomycorrhizal growth response to increased tree growth and observed shifts in community composition with warming. Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas. This research was supported by a grant from the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (nr: 239-2013-1113 for H. Wallander). Peer Reviewed