Root-associated fungal community reflects host spatial co-occurrence patterns in a subtropical forest.

ABSTRACT: Plant roots harbor and interact with diverse fungal species. By changing these belowground fungal communities, focal plants can affect the performance of surrounding individuals and the outcome of coexistence. Although highly host related, the roles of these root-associated fungal communities per se in host plant spatial co-occurrence is largely unknown. Here, we evaluated the host dependency of root-associated communities for 39-plant species spatially mapped throughout a 50-ha subtropical forest plot with relevant environmental properties. In addition, we explored whether the differentiation in root fungal associations among plant species can reflect their observed co-occurrence patterns. We demonstrated a strong host-dependency by discriminating the differentiation of root-associated fu

SUBMITTER: Kuang J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9723750 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature