Missing checkerboards? An absence of competitive signal in Alnus-associated ectomycorrhizal fungal communities.

ABSTRACT: A number of recent studies suggest that interspecific competition plays a key role in determining the structure of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal communities. Despite this growing consensus, there has been limited study of ECM fungal community dynamics in abiotically stressful environments, which are often dominated by positive rather than antagonistic interactions. In this study, we examined the ECM fungal communities associated with the host genus Alnus, which live in soils high in both nitrate and acidity. The nature of ECM fungal species interactions (i.e., antagonistic, neutral, or positive) was assessed using taxon co-occurrence and DNA sequence abundance correlational analyses. ECM fungal communities were sampled from root tips or mesh in-growth bags in three monodominant A. rubra plo

SUBMITTER: Kennedy P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4273934 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature