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Lower relative abundance of ectomycorrhizal fungi under a warmer and drier climate is linked to enhanced soil organic matter decomposition
Author(s) -
Querejeta José Ignacio,
Schlaeppi Klaus,
LópezGarcía Álvaro,
Ondoño Sara,
Prieto Iván,
van der Heijden Marcel G. A.,
Mar Alguacil María
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1111/nph.17661
Subject(s) - decomposer , soil organic matter , shrubland , soil carbon , organic matter , ecosystem , ecology , relative species abundance , nutrient , abundance (ecology) , biogeochemistry , environmental science , biology , agronomy , botany , chemistry , soil water
Summary The aboveground impacts of climate change receive extensive research attention, but climate change could also alter belowground processes such as the delicate balance between free‐living fungal decomposers and nutrient‐scavenging mycorrhizal fungi that can inhibit decomposition through a mechanism called the Gadgil effect. We investigated how climate change‐induced reductions in plant survival, photosynthesis and productivity alter soil fungal community composition in a mixed arbuscular/ectomycorrhizal (AM/EM) semiarid shrubland exposed to experimental warming (W) and/or rainfall reduction (RR). We hypothesised that increased EM host plant mortality under a warmer and drier climate might decrease ectomycorrhizal fungal (EMF) abundance, thereby favouring the proliferation and activity of fungal saprotrophs. The relative abundance of EMF sequences decreased by 57.5% under W+RR, which was accompanied by reductions in the activity of hydrolytic enzymes involved in the acquisition of organic‐bound nutrients by EMF and their host plants. W+RR thereby created an enhanced potential for soil organic matter (SOM) breakdown and nitrogen mineralisation by decomposers, as revealed by 127–190% increases in dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen, respectively, and decreasing SOM content in soil. Climate aridification impacts on vegetation can cascade belowground through shifts in fungal guild structure that alter ecosystem biogeochemistry and accelerate SOM decomposition by reducing the Gadgil effect.