e-journal

Fungal effects on plant–plant interactions contribute to grassland plant abundances: evidence from the field

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1. Plant–fungal interactions can have strong effects on plant abundances, both through direct effects
on plant performance and indirect effects on competition and facilitation. Most evidence linking
fungi to plant abundances derives from direct fungal effects on initial growth, with little evidence
linking fungal effects on plant–plant interactions in intact communities to plant abundances for any
plant life-history stage.

2. We transplanted 4320 individuals belonging to 18 plant species into plots where we removed
neighbouring vegetation and suppressed fungi using fungicide in a factorial design. We monitored
plant survival and growth for 3 years, using these data to test whether fungi had net effects on how
plant–plant interactions affected different plant life-history components (initial survival/growth, adult
survival/growth). We then tested whether these indirect fungal effects or direct fungal effects on
plant performance best explained plant commonness (frequency of occurrence) and local density
(per cent cover). Finally, we measured differences in root-associated fungi following fungal suppression
and associated these differences with fungal effects on plant performance.

3. Overall, fungi increased competitive effects on survival (i.e. lower survival with fungi intact), but
reduced competitive effects on growth of adult plants (i.e. higher growth when fungi intact). Among
the focal species, these indirect fungal effects increased survival for more common species relative
to rarer species. However, indirect fungal effects on adult growth benefitted rarer species more than
common species. Local plant densities were unassociated with indirect fungal effects, but were negatively
associated with direct fungal effects on survival and adult growth. This suggests that fungi
limit local dominance, thereby indirectly increasing the establishment of common species and the
growth of rare species.

4. Synthesis. Using a variety of plant species and suppressing both fungi and neighbours, we show
that fungi have net indirect effects, through plant–plant interactions, within intact plant communities.
Variation among species in both direct and indirect fungal effects contributed to plant abundances,
yet fungal effects did not consistently benefit either common or rare species. However, regardless of
commonness, fungi directly reduced growth and survival for species with high local densities, consistent
with plant–soil feedbacks limiting species dominance.

Key-words: arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, below-ground interactions, community assembly, competition,
dominance, facilitation, grassland, pathogens, plant–soil feedbacks, rarity

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Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

Journal of Ecology

No. Panggil

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Penerbit

London : ., 2016

Deskripsi Fisik

Journal of Ecology 2016, 104, 755–764

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

doi: 10.1111/1365-27

Klasifikasi

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Tipe Isi

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Tipe Media

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Tipe Pembawa

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Edisi

2016, 104

Subjek

EKOLOGI

Info Detail Spesifik

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Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

gusut

Versi lain/terkait

Lampiran Berkas

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