We tested how fine root traits, and their coordination at the community level, relate to the diversity and composition of fungal guilds and fungal abundance in the soil.
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In experimental grassland communities of the @jena-experiment.bsky.social, we measured root traits at the community level, i.e. without species separation, sequenced fungal communities and measured respiration and fatty acids from bulk soil.
We show that trait coordination from community root traits closely resembles the species-level root economics space, suggesting that plant communities also differ in their collaboration with mycorrhiza and their conservation of resources.
Different root functional strategies of the communities also strongly affect the diversity and relative abundance of soil fungal guilds. Specifically, 'outsourcing' communities (high mean root diameter, potentially more collaborative with arbuscular mycorrhiza) show more diverse AMF communities.
At the same time, 'outsourcing' communities also relate to less diverse and less abundant pathogen communities in the bulk soil! (While we cannot resolve the mechanisms, we compiled reasoning and literature for trait-fungi relationships in a previous New Phytologist paper https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.19261)
Plant diversity only shows minor effects on the composition and diversity of soil fungi.
The absolute abundance/biomass of soil fungi, however, is strongly dependent on plant diversity, likely because of the increased (root) biomass production in diverse plant communities.
So in short (and simplified!): Root functional strategies determine the (functional) composition of fungal communities in the soil but plant diversity/productivity determines the absolute fungal biomass.
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The absolute abundance/biomass of soil fungi, however, is strongly dependent on plant diversity, likely because of the increased (root) biomass production in diverse plant communities.