Abstract

Forest disturbances have a strong effect on soil fungal communities and associated ecosystem processes. However, little is known about the response of mycelial biomass to disturbances, and how fungi reallocate carbon into different fungal structures under environmental stressors. We investigated above- and below-ground fungal biomass shifts in response to different intensities of forest management in Mediterranean Pinus pinaster forests. Soil fungal biomass was estimated by ergosterol quantification and production of sporocarps was estimated from repeated field samplings during 5 years in 26 experimental plots. Abundance of mycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungi belowground was determined using Pacific Biosciences sequencing of fungal ITS2 amplicons. Thinning had a prolonged negative effect belowground, inter- and intra-annually, on total fungal biomass and on the biomass of ectomycorrhizal fungi, but not on saprotrophic fungi. Total and ectomycorrhizal mushroom yields were negatively correlated with the total and the ectomycorrhizal mycelial biomass, respectively. Thinning also correlated positively with the aboveground/belowground ratio of both total and ectomycorrhizal fungal biomass. We show potential short-term shifts in resource allocation of fungi from below-to above-ground structures under disturbances such as forest thinning. Ectomycorrhizal fungi may respond to disturbances by increasing reproduction rather than colonizing the surrounding soil.

Keywords

Fungal dynamics; Ectomycorrhizal; Saprotrophic; Ergosterol; High throughput sequencing

Published in

Soil Biology and Biochemistry
2020, Volume: 150, article number: 108010
Publisher: PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

SLU Authors

• Castaño Soler, Carles

  • Department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Soil Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2020.108010

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/108707