Does responsiveness to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi depend on plant invasive status?

ABSTRACT: Differences in the direction and degree to which invasive alien and native plants are influenced by mycorrhizal associations could indicate a general mechanism of plant invasion, but whether or not such differences exist is unclear. Here, we tested whether mycorrhizal responsiveness varies by plant invasive status while controlling for phylogenetic relatedness among plants with two large grassland datasets. Mycorrhizal responsiveness was measured for 68 taxa from the Northern Plains, and data for 95 taxa from the Central Plains were included. Nineteen percent of taxa from the Northern Plains had greater total biomass with mycorrhizas while 61% of taxa from the Central Plains responded positively. For the Northern Plains taxa, measurable effects often depended on the response variable (i.e.

SUBMITTER: Reinhart KO 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5574787 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature