Open AccessTracking plant preference for higher‐quality mycorrhizal symbionts under varying CO 2 conditions over multiple generations
Author(s) -
Werner Gijsbert D. A.,
Zhou Yeling,
Pieterse Corné M. J.,
Kiers E. Toby
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
ecology and evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.17
H-Index - 63
ISSN - 2045-7758
DOI - 10.1002/ece3.3635
Subject(s) - mutualism (biology) , symbiosis , biology , interspecific competition , context (archaeology) , arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi , abundance (ecology) , ecology , inoculation , horticulture , bacteria , paleontology , genetics
The symbiosis between plants and root‐colonizing arbuscular mycorrhizal ( AM ) fungi is one of the most ecologically important examples of interspecific cooperation in the world. AM fungi provide benefits to plants; in return plants allocate carbon resources to fungi, preferentially allocating more resources to higher‐quality fungi. However, preferential allocations from plants to symbionts may vary with environmental context, particularly when resource availability affects the relative value of symbiotic services. We ask how differences in atmospheric CO 2 ‐levels influence root colonization dynamics between AMF species that differ in their quality as symbiotic partners. We find that with increasing CO 2 ‐conditions and over multiple plant generations, the more beneficial fungal species is able to achieve a relatively higher abundance. This suggests that increasing atmospheric carbon supply enables plants to more effectively allocate carbon to higher‐quality mutualists, and over time helps reduce lower‐quality AM abundance. Our results illustrate how environmental context may affect the extent to which organisms structure interactions with their mutualistic partners and have potential implications for mutualism stability and persistence under global change.