Ectomycorrhizal diversity, taxon-specific traits and root N uptake in temperate beech forests

Abstract

Roots of forest trees are colonized by a diverse spectrum of ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungal species differing in their nitrogen (N) acquisition abilities. Here, we hypothesized that root N gain is the result of EM fungal diversity or related to taxon-specific traits for N uptake. To test our hypotheses, we traced ¹⁵ N enrichment in fine roots, coarse roots and taxon-specific ectomycorrhizas in temperate beech forests in two regions and three seasons, feeding 1 mM NH₄ NO₃ labelled with either ¹⁵ NH₄ ⁺ or ¹⁵ NO₃ ^- . We morphotyped > 45 000 vital root tips and identified 51 of 53 detected EM species by sequencing. EM root tips exhibited strong, fungal taxon-specific variation in ¹⁵ N enrichment with higher NH₄ ⁺ than NO₃ ^- enrichment. The translocation of N into the upper parts of the root system increased with increasing EM fungal diversity. Across the growth season, influential EM species predicting root N gain were not identified, probably due to high temporal dynamics of the species composition of EM assemblages. Our results support that root N acquisition is related to EM fungal community-level traits and highlight the importance of EM diversity for tree N nutrition.

Keywords: Fagus sylvatica; biodiversity; ectomycorrhiza; mineral nitrogen; nutrition; stable isotopes.