1
|
Guy P, Sibly R, Smart SM, Tibbett M, Pickles BJ. Mycorrhizal type of woody plants influences understory species richness in British broadleaved woodlands. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2022; 235:2046-2053. [PMID: 35622460 PMCID: PMC9543792 DOI: 10.1111/nph.18274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2022] [Accepted: 05/12/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Mature temperate woodlands are commonly dominated by ectomycorrhizal trees, whereas understory plants predominantly form arbuscular mycorrhizal associations. Due to differences in plant-fungus compatibility between canopy and ground layer vegetation the 'mycorrhizal mediation hypothesis' predicts that herbaceous plant establishment may be limited by a lack of suitable mycorrhizal fungal inoculum. We examined plant species data for 103 woodlands across Great Britain recorded in 1971 and in 2000 to test whether herbaceous plant species richness was related to the proportion of arbuscular mycorrhizal woody plants. We compared the effect of mycorrhizal type with other important drivers of woodland plant species richness. We found a positive effect of the relative abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal woody plants on herbaceous plant species richness. The size of the observed effect was smaller than that of pH. Moreover, the effect persisted over time, despite many woodlands undergoing marked successional change and increased understorey shading. This work supports the mycorrhizal mediation hypothesis in British woodlands and suggests that increased abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal woody plants is associated with greater understory plant species richness.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Petra Guy
- School of Biological SciencesUniversity of Reading, Health and Life Sciences BuildingWhiteknightsReadingRG6 6EXUK
- School of Agriculture, Policy, and DevelopmentUniversity of ReadingWhiteknightsReadingRG6 6BZUK
| | - Richard Sibly
- School of Biological SciencesUniversity of Reading, Health and Life Sciences BuildingWhiteknightsReadingRG6 6EXUK
| | - Simon M. Smart
- UK Centre for Ecology & HydrologyLibrary Avenue, BailriggLancasterLA1 4APUK
| | - Mark Tibbett
- School of Agriculture, Policy, and DevelopmentUniversity of ReadingWhiteknightsReadingRG6 6BZUK
| | - Brian J. Pickles
- School of Biological SciencesUniversity of Reading, Health and Life Sciences BuildingWhiteknightsReadingRG6 6EXUK
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Chen S, Holyoak M, Liu H, Bao H, Ma Y, Dou H, Jiang G. Effects of spatially heterogeneous warming on gut microbiota, nutrition and gene flow of a heat-sensitive ungulate population. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 806:150537. [PMID: 34844317 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2021] [Revised: 09/19/2021] [Accepted: 09/19/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Effects of climate warming on trophic cascades are increasingly reported for large herbivores occupying northern latitudes. During the last 40 years, moose (Alces alces) in northeast China have lost nearly half of their historical distribution through their habitat shifting northwards. There are many possible causes of bottom-up and top-down effects of temperature and for moose in northeast China they are poorly understood. Of particular relevance are the effects of extrinsic environmental factors on gene flow, nutritional adaptions, and gut microbiota that occur as moose populations retreat northwards. We combined molecular biology, nutritional ecology and metagenomics to gain deeper mechanistic insights into the effects of temperature on moose populations. In this study, we revealed that the direction and intensity of gene flow is consistent with global warming driving retreats of moose populations. We interpret this as evidence for the northward movement of moose populations, with cooler northern populations receiving more immigrants and warmer southern populations supplying emigrants. Comparison across latitudes showed that warmer late spring temperatures were associated with plant community composition and facilitated related changes in moose protein and carbohydrate intake through altering forage availability, forage quality and diet composition. Furthermore, these nutrient shifts were accompanied by changes in gut microbial composition and functional pathways related to nutrient metabolism. This study provided insights into mechanisms driving effects of spatial heterogeneous warming on genetic, nutritional and physiological adaptions related to key demographic rates and patterns of survival of heat-sensitive ungulates along a latitude gradient. Understanding such changes helps to identify key habitat areas and plant species to ensure accurate assessment of population status and targeted management of moose populations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shiyu Chen
- Feline Research Center of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, College of Wildlife and Protected Area, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
| | - Marcel Holyoak
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Hui Liu
- Feline Research Center of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, College of Wildlife and Protected Area, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China; College of Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China
| | - Heng Bao
- Feline Research Center of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, College of Wildlife and Protected Area, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
| | - Yingjie Ma
- Feline Research Center of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, College of Wildlife and Protected Area, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China; Key Lab of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1-5 Beichenxi Road, Chaoyang, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Hongliang Dou
- Feline Research Center of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, College of Wildlife and Protected Area, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Silviculture, Protection and Utilization, Guangdong Academy of Forestry, Guangzhou 510520, China
| | - Guangshun Jiang
- Feline Research Center of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, College of Wildlife and Protected Area, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Sandanov DV, Liu Y, Wang Z, Korolyuk AY. Woody and Herbaceous Plants of Inner Asia: Species Richness and Ecogeorgraphic Patterns. CONTEMP PROBL ECOL+ 2020. [DOI: 10.1134/s1995425520040101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
|