Slowed Biogeochemical Cycling in Sub-arctic Birch Forest Linked to Reduced Mycorrhizal Growth and Community Change after a Defoliation Event.

ABSTRACT: Sub-arctic birch forests (Betula pubescens Ehrh. ssp. czerepanovii) periodically suffer large-scale defoliation events caused by the caterpillars of the geometrid moths Epirrita autumnata and Operophtera brumata. Despite their obvious influence on ecosystem primary productivity, little is known about how the associated reduction in belowground C allocation affects soil processes. We quantified the soil response following a natural defoliation event in sub-arctic Sweden by measuring soil respiration, nitrogen availability and ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) hyphal production and root tip community composition. There was a reduction in soil respiration and an accumulation of soil inorganic N in defoliated plots, symptomatic of a slowdown of soil processes. This coinci

SUBMITTER: Parker TC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7089692 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature