Ectomycorrhizal Communities on the Roots of Two Beech (Fagus sylvatica) Populations from Contrasting Climates Differ in Nitrogen Acquisition in a Common Environment.

ABSTRACT: Beech (Fagus sylvatica), a dominant forest species in Central Europe, competes for nitrogen with soil microbes and suffers from N limitation under dry conditions. We hypothesized that ectomycorrhizal communities and the free-living rhizosphere microbes from beech trees from sites with two contrasting climatic conditions exhibit differences in N acquisition that contribute to differences in host N uptake and are related to differences in host belowground carbon allocation. To test these hypotheses, young trees from the natural regeneration of two genetically similar populations, one from dryer conditions (located in an area with a southwest exposure [SW trees]) and the other from a cooler, moist climate (located in an area with a northeast exposure [NE trees]), were transplanted into a homo

SUBMITTER: Leberecht M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4551248 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature