Foliar Herbivory Reduces Rhizosphere Fungal Diversity and Destabilizes the Co-occurrence Network.

ABSTRACT: Insect herbivores can adversely impact terrestrial plants throughout ontogeny and across various ecosystems. Simultaneously, the effects of foliar herbivory may extend belowground, to the soil microbial community. However, the responses in terms of the diversity, assembly, and stability of rhizosphere fungi to aboveground herbivory remain understudied. Here, using high-throughput sequencing, the effects of foliar insect herbivory on rhizosphere fungal microbes were investigated in a common garden experiment that manipulated herbivory intensity and time from herbivore removal. The number of observed fungal species was reduced by a greater herbivory intensity, with some species evidently sensitive to herbivory intensity and time since herbivore removal. Rhizofungal assembly processes were al

SUBMITTER: Shi Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8957981 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature