Article
Agronomy
Yonas Ugo Utaile, Maarten Van Geel, Bart Muys, Simon Shibru Cheche, Kenny Helsen, Olivier Honnay
Summary: The study found that the encroachment of the invasive shrub D. cinerea can impact the Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungus (AMF) communities associated with existing herbaceous vegetation in savannah ecosystems, leading to different levels of AMF diversity and community composition. Herbaceous plants in sparsely encroached areas exhibited higher AMF diversity, while those in densely encroached areas showed intermediate AMF diversity.
Article
Ecology
Rachel M. Keen, Jesse B. Nippert, Pamela L. Sullivan, Zak Ratajczak, Brynn Ritchey, Kimberly O'Keefe, Walter K. Dodds
Summary: Woody encroachment has impacted grassland ecohydrology worldwide. In a tallgrass prairie in Kansas, USA, stream discharge has declined despite an increase in precipitation. Riparian vegetation, particularly woody species, primarily use deep soil water, leading to observed declines in stream flow.
Article
Microbiology
Alice G. Tipton, Donald Nelsen, Liz Koziol, Eric B. Duell, Geoffrey House, Gail W. T. Wilson, Peggy A. Schultz, James D. Bever
Summary: This study examined the dispersal of AMF taxa in four tallgrass prairie restorations and found that different taxa have varying dispersal abilities. The spread of AMF also affected the growth and community composition of neighboring plants.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Junqiang Zheng, Mingming Cui, Cong Wang, Jian Wang, Shilin Wang, Zhongjie Sun, Feirong Ren, Shiqiang Wan, Shijie Han
Summary: The study investigated the interactive effects of elevated atmospheric CO2, nitrogen deposition, precipitation, and warming on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi communities in a semiarid grassland using an open-top chamber field experiment. It was found that the interactions among these global change factors significantly affected AMF community structure and assembly processes.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Sulaimon Basiru, Hopkins Pachalo Mwanza, Mohamed Hijri
Summary: Efficient management of root-associated microbiomes is crucial for improving crop yield and reducing environmental footprint. Various plant symbionts, such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, have entered large-scale applications in agriculture. Research on the combination of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi with other beneficial microbes should be further conducted to maximize their potential in crop production.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Xinyu Xu, Yunpeng Qiu, Kangcheng Zhang, Fei Yang, Mengfei Chen, Xi Luo, Xuebin Yan, Peng Wang, Yi Zhang, Huaihai Chen, Hui Guo, Lin Jiang, Shuijin Hu
Summary: The research showed that warming affects the composition and diversity of AMF communities, reducing their abundance and utilization of N and P in the soil. Changes in precipitation increased the quantity of AMF but did not significantly impact the composition of the communities.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
John V. Ramana, Jason M. Tylianakis, Hayley J. Ridgway, Ian A. Dickie
Summary: Plant root traits, such as root diameter and native/exotic status, strongly influence the composition of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities. Coarse-rooted plants have a lower diversity of mycorrhizal fungi and associate less with generalist fungal partners compared to fine-rooted plants. Exotic plants have a lower diversity of fungi and fewer associations with nondominant families of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi compared to native plants.
Article
Geography, Physical
Jialing Teng, Jing Tian, Guirui Yu
Summary: This study used high-throughput sequencing techniques to evaluate AMF richness in different grassland ecosystems in northern China, revealing significant differences in AMF richness among regions and identifying plant traits as the primary factor affecting AMF diversity.
JOURNAL OF GEOGRAPHICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Dandan Fan, Mukan Ji, Jianshuang Wu, Hao Chen, Hongzeng Jia, Xianzhou Zhang, Xuliang Zhuang, Weidong Kong
Summary: Animal grazing has substantial effects on soil arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and plants. However, its effects on AMF-plant interactions are still unclear, especially in dry grasslands where plants heavily rely on AMF for environmental stress tolerance. The Tibetan Plateau is experiencing rapid grassland degradation due to increased animal grazing. This study investigates the AMF-plant interactions and AMF community assembly processes in grazed and non-grazed grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Stephanie J. Watts-Williams, Stefanie Wege, Sunita A. Ramesh, Oliver Berkowitz, Bo Xu, Matthew Gilliham, James Whelan, Stephen D. Tyerman
Summary: Soil micronutrient availability, particularly zinc (Zn), is a limiting factor in crop yield. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi facilitate nutrient uptake in host plants through the mycorrhizal pathway. In this study, RNA-seq analysis revealed that the putative Zn transporter gene, MtZIP14, was up-regulated in Medicago truncatula roots during colonization by Rhizophagus irregularis. Loss-of-function mutant plants lacking MtZIP14 showed reduced shoot biomass when grown under low Zn concentration and colonized by AM fungi, implicating a role for MtZIP14 in plant Zn nutrition and AM colonization.
PLANT CELL AND ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Zengyu Zhang, Bei Li, Yongxian Liu, Lixin He, Ting Pang, Zongdao Chen, Md Jahidul Islam Shohag, Xiuyan Miao, Xi Li, Minghua Gu, Yanyan Wei
Summary: Selenium is an essential trace element for humans, and AMF inoculation and selenium fertilizer application have a promoting effect on selenium uptake in soybean. Fertilization with selenite and inoculation with different AMF strains affect the speciation, biomass and accumulation of selenium in soybean. The combined use of AMF inoculation and selenium fertilizer increases the bioavailable selenium in soil and promotes the total selenium concentration and organic selenium accumulation in soybean. These results suggest that AMF inoculation combined with selenium fertilizer can be a promising strategy for selenium biofortification in soybean.
Review
Plant Sciences
Adam N. Trautwig, Michelle R. Jackson, Stephanie N. Kivlin, Kristina A. Stinson
Summary: This paper reviews the literature and DNA databases to investigate why Brassicaceae plants are non-mycorrhizal and whether there are exceptions to this observation. The study finds that variations in plant biology, discrepancies in vernacular, methodological contradictions, and species-site interactions can result in inconsistent associations with mycorrhizal fungi.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Laura Mino, Matthew R. Kolp, Sam Fox, Chris Reazin, Lydia Zeglin, Ari Jumpponen
Summary: Fire can impact terrestrial ecosystems by changing abiotic and biotic conditions. The severity and frequency of fires, as well as the extent of shrub encroachment, play key roles in determining the effects of fire on soil chemistry and microbial communities. Different fire severities can lead to distinct soil system states, influencing grassland restoration opportunities.
FEMS MICROBIOLOGY ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Xiaocui Ma, Xia Xu, Qinghong Geng, Yiqi Luo, Chenghui Ju, Qian Li, Yan Zhou
Summary: This study aimed to explore the global distribution pattern and key predictors of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) diversity and abundance. It was found that cold climate zones had lower AMF diversity. Grassland ecosystems tended to have higher AMF diversity and abundance. Soil available phosphorus (P) and latitude were identified as the most important predictors of AMF diversity. Soil available P and soil pH were the main predictors for the global distribution of AMF abundance. The findings advance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the distribution patterns of mycorrhizal fungal diversity and abundance at the global scale.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Scott N. Johnson, Jeff R. Powell, Adam Frew, Ximena Cibils-Stewart
Summary: In this study, the two-way interaction between root microbial symbionts, such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and silicon accumulation in plants was investigated. The results showed that silicon accumulation suppressed colonisation by AM fungi, especially in plants with high silicon accumulation capacity.
Article
Ecology
Scott L. Collins, Jesse B. Nippert, John M. Blair, John M. Briggs, Pamela Blackmore, Zak Ratajczak
Summary: The study found that annual burning can slow down shrub encroachment but cannot completely reverse it. Additionally, changing fire frequencies results in hysteresis, with vegetation trajectories from grassland to shrubland differing from those of shrubland to grassland.
Article
Agronomy
R. Kent Connell, Rory C. O'Connor, Jesse B. Nippert, John M. Blair
Summary: The study found that total soil carbon and nitrogen increased with shrub size at every sampling location, except the edge. Microbial demand for nitrogen also increased with shrub size. Across all shrub sizes and sampling locations, potential soil carbon mineralization rates were higher when microbes broke down proportionally more shrub-derived organic matter than grass-derived organic matter.
Article
Environmental Sciences
J. A. Jones, P. M. Groffman, J. Blair, F. W. Davis, H. Dugan, E. E. Euskirchen, S. D. Frey, T. K. Harms, E. Hinckley, M. Kosmala, S. Loberg, S. Malone, K. Novick, S. Record, A. V. Rocha, B. L. Ruddell, E. H. Stanley, C. Sturtevant, A. Thorpe, T. White, W. R. Wieder, L. Zhai, K. Zhu
Summary: This article discusses the opportunities and challenges of cross-network synthesis research, particularly emphasizing the synergies between the LTER and NEON networks, and provides examples of initial cross-network syntheses on six broad topics.
Article
Ecology
Julie C. Zinnert, Jesse B. Nippert, Jennifer A. Rudgers, Steven C. Pennings, Grizelle Gonzalez, Merryl Alber, Sara G. Baer, John M. Blair, Adrian Burd, Scott L. Collins, Christopher Craft, Daniela Di Iorio, Walter K. Dodds, Peter M. Groffman, Ellen Herbert, Christine Hladik, Fan Li, Marcy E. Litvak, Seth Newsome, John O'Donnell, William T. Pockman, John Schalles, Donald R. Young
Summary: Understanding complex and unpredictable ways ecosystems are changing and predicting future ecosystem states require coordinated, long-term research efforts. This paper reports on a US National Science Foundation funded Long Term Ecological Research network synthesis on anticipated changes in populations and communities. Common themes of state change, connectivity, resilience, time lags, and cascading effects are identified as key predictions across different ecosystems within the LTER network.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
D. Johan Kotze, Subhadip Ghosh, Nan Hui, Ari Jumpponen, Benjamin P. Y-H Lee, Changyi Lu, Shawn Lum, Richard Pouyat, Katalin Szlavecz, David A. Wardle, Ian Yesilonis, Bangxiao Zheng, Heikki Setala
Summary: The study showed that vegetation type affects soil organic matter, total carbon, and total nitrogen content, but inconsistently across climatic zones. In boreal and temperate urban parks, plant-trait effects were weak in old parks but stronger in young parks, with soils under trees accumulating more organic matter, carbon, and nitrogen compared to lawns. Urbanization was found to dominate natural factors, resulting in lower values of organic-matter-related soil properties under trees in parks compared to forests.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Soil Science
R. Kent Connell, Lydia H. Zeglin, John M. Blair
Summary: The study revealed that the effects of plant-soil feedbacks on plant biomass were independent of their impact on SOM-derived CO2 production. However, differences in soil microbial communities induced by different plant species may have lasting effects on ecosystem processes.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Ingrid J. Slette, John M. Blair, Philip A. Fay, Melinda D. Smith, Alan K. Knapp
Summary: Climate change is altering precipitation regimes globally, leading to intensified precipitation patterns and more frequent and extreme droughts. A study on a mesic grassland in central US showed that long-term exposure to intensified precipitation patterns did not significantly affect the response of aboveground net primary production (ANPP) to subsequent extreme drought, but reduced root production and muted soil CO2 flux responses during drought. Compound changes in precipitation patterns and amount significantly reduced ecosystem carbon uptake in this grassland.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Marja Roslund, Riikka Puhakka, Noora Nurminen, Sami Oikarinen, Nathan Siter, Mira Gronroos, Ondrej Cinek, Lenka Kramna, Ari Jumpponen, Olli H. Laitinen, Juho Rajaniemi, Heikki Hyoty, Aki Sinkkonen, Damiano Cerrone
Summary: This 2-year study found that biodiversity intervention in day-care centers led to an increase in nonpathogenic environmental mycobacteria in surface soils and changes in bacterial community composition in skin and saliva of children. The intervention enriched commensal microbiota, reduced potentially pathogenic bacteria on the skin, and altered the relative abundance of certain bacteria associated with immune regulation. Future studies should expand intervention strategies to immune response and immune-mediated diseases.
ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Caitlin M. Broderick, Kate Wilkins, Melinda D. Smith, John M. Blair
Summary: Climate legacies have significant impacts on carbon cycling in tallgrass prairie, affecting C fluxes and soil C pools. However, the persistence and sensitivity of these legacies vary with different climate treatments.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Jennifer A. Rudgers, Sam Fox, Andrea Porras-Alfaro, Jose Herrera, Chris Reazin, Dylan R. Kent, Lara Souza, YanYi Anny Chung, Ari Jumpponen
Summary: Root-associated fungi did not exhibit poleward declines in diversity as seen in many animals and plants, with host plant identity having the greatest influence on fungal community structure. Edaphic factors were more important than climate or host plant traits in determining fungal community structure, with the relative importance of environmental predictors varying among plant species. As sampling approached host species range edges, fungal composition became more similar among individual plants of each grass species, suggesting a homogenizing effect of stressors at host plant range limits.
JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Walter K. Dodds, Gretchen Wichman, James P. Guinnip, Jessica R. Corman, John M. Blair
Summary: Riparian zones play a crucial role in transforming and retaining nutrients and sediment. This study investigates the direct influence of precipitation on material retention and transport in these zones. The findings suggest that vegetated riparian zones have a high capacity for retaining nitrate.
METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Mycology
Maria-Jose Romero-Jimenez, Jennifer A. Rudgers, Ari Jumpponen, Jose Herrera, Miriam Hutchinson, Cheryl Kuske, John Dunbar, Daniel G. Knapp, Gabor M. Kovacs, Andrea Porras-Alfaro
Summary: Darksidea is a common genus of dark septate fungi found in semiarid regions. A new species, D. phi, has been discovered in the United States, expanding the distribution of the genus beyond arid regions. This species shows low host specificity among grasses.
Review
Mycology
Sam Fox, Benjamin A. Sikes, Shawn P. Brown, Cathy L. Cripps, Sydney Glassman, Karen Hughes, Tatiana Semenova-Nelsen, Ari Jumpponen
Summary: Fires have significant impacts on fungal communities, but there is limited understanding of fungal responses to fire and their major drivers. This synthesis provides an overview of fire adaptations, fungal community succession, and composition, as well as the interactions between fungi and fire. It also discusses the sources of post-fire fungi and explores conceptual models and ecological frameworks that can help generalize fungal responses to fire. Research gaps and areas for further investigation are identified.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Zak Ratajczak, Scott L. Collins, John M. Blair, Sally E. Koerner, Allison M. Louthan, Melinda D. Smith, Jeffrey H. Taylor, Jesse B. Nippert
Summary: The extinction of megafauna may have had a destabilizing impact on ecosystems and global biodiversity. A study found that reintroducing native herbivores, such as the plains bison, into grasslands can significantly increase native plant species richness.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Caitlin M. Broderick, Kiona M. Freeman, Lydia H. Zeglin, John M. Blair
Summary: Climate change is expected to impact precipitation regimes in the North American Central Plains, which may have consequences for ecosystem functioning. Water and nitrogen can co-limit ecosystem processes in tallgrass prairies, making changes in precipitation have complex effects on carbon and nitrogen cycling.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-BIOGEOSCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Edith C. Hammer, Carlos Arellano-Caicedo, Paola Micaela Mafla-Endara, E. Toby Kiers, Tom Shimizu, Pelle Ohlsson, Kristin Aleklett
Summary: This study used microfluidic chips to investigate foraging strategies and habitat modification of Rhizophagus irregularis symbiotically associated with carrot roots. The researchers found that AMF hyphae can forage over long distances, prefer straight passages, and show branching induction when encountering obstacles. They also observed bi-directional transport of cellular content inside the hyphae and strategic allocation of biomass within the mycelium. Additionally, the AMF hyphae modified the pore-spaces in the chips by clogging them with irregularly shaped spores. These findings have important implications for understanding the impact of AMF on water retention in soils.
