Root-associated ectomycorrhizal fungi shared by various boreal forest seedlings naturally regenerating after a fire in interior alaska and correlation of different fungi with host growth responses.

ABSTRACT: The role of common mycorrhizal networks (CMNs) in postfire boreal forest successional trajectories is unknown. We investigated this issue by sampling a 50-m by 40-m area of naturally regenerating black spruce (Picea mariana), trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides), and paper birch (Betula papyrifera) seedlings at various distances from alder (Alnus viridis subsp. crispa), a nitrogen-fixing shrub, 5 years after wildfire in an Alaskan interior boreal forest. Shoot biomasses and stem diameters of 4-year-old seedlings were recorded, and the fungal community associated with ectomycorrhizal (ECM) root tips from each seedling was profiled using molecular techniques. We found distinct assemblages of fungi associated with alder compared with those associated with the other tree species, making the f

SUBMITTER: Bent E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3126461 | biostudies-literature | 2011 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature