Determining the carbon transport time from Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) needles to ectomycorrhizal sporocarps using the natural abundance carbon isotopic composition.

ABSTRACT: Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi, as major carbon (C) sinks, are critical to plant-soil C cycling. Although C allocation between plants and ECM fungi has been studied extensively, C transport time, the key component of C cycling, remains poorly understood. To address this, we collected new needles (weekly), roots (monthly) and ECM fungi (sporocarps and hyphae) of three genera (Cortinarius, Lactarius and Russula) in a boreal Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forest in Finland. We analysed the natural abundance C isotope composition (δ13C) of sugars or organic matter and observed a strong vapour pressure deficit (VPD) signal in needle sucrose δ13C. We coupled VPD with the δ13C of water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC, δ13CWSC) in sporocarps to determine C transport times. We found Lactarius and Russula

SUBMITTER: Mo L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12716283 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature