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Title: ELEVATED CO2 AND PLANT PLANT SPECIES RICHNESS IMPACT ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL FUNGAL SPORE COMMUNITIES

Author
item WOLF, JULIE - UNIVERSITY OF AZ
item JOHNSON, NANCY - U
item Rowland, Diane
item REICH, PETER - U

Submitted to: New Phytologist
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/1/2003
Publication Date: 3/1/2003
Citation: Wolf, J., Johnson, N., Rowland, D., Reich, P.B. 2003. Elevated CO2 and plant plant species richness impact arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal spore communities. New Phytologist.

Interpretive Summary: Beneficial fungi known as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) were examined for their response to elevated carbon dioxide and nitrogen levels. When grown with a single plant species host, AMF did respond to elevated carbon dioxide by producing more spores, but there was no response when host plant species diversity increased. This shows that carbon dioxide enrichment impacts AMF community structure at low plant species richness and thus may affect AMF functioning as well. This could impact the response of less diverse plant communities as rising levels of carbon dioxide throughout the world continue.

Technical Abstract: We enumerated arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal spore communities for three years as part of a long-term Free-Air CO2 Enrichment experiment (BioCON) at Cedar Creek, Minnesota, USA. Complete factorial combinations of two levels of CO2 and N, and sixteen perennial plant species grown in monoculture and sixteen-species polyculture were arranged in a split-plot design. In 1998 - 2000, spore communities were quantified under monocultures of eight plant species. In 2000, measurements were expanded to include monocultures and polycultures of all of the plant species. Within plant monocultures, spore communities differed under ambient and elevated CO2. In contrast, communities under plant polycultures did not differ at the two CO2 levels, and resembled communities under monocultures in elevated CO2. N addition had small negative effects on total spore abundance and species richness in 2000. The interaction of CO2 x N did not affect arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal spore communities. We show that CO2 enrichment impacts AM fungal community structure at low plant species richness. These findings are important because altered AM symbiotic functioning may result.