Abstract
Abstract. Soil functioning is intrinsically related to the structure of associated biological communities. This link is barely understood in the multispecies context of soil microbial communities, which often requires complex analytical approaches to discern structural and functional roles of microbial taxa inhabiting the soil. To investigate these ecological properties, we characterized the assembly and soil functioning contribution of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal communities through co-occurrence network analysis. Co-occurrence networks were inferred from ECM root tips of Cistus albidus, Quercus faginea and Q. ilex on a regional scale, in Mediterranean mixed forests. Soil enzymatic activities related to carbon and nutrient cycling were also measured, and soil functionality outcomes related to ECM fungal network structure were evaluated on the community to taxon levels. Network complexity relied on habitat characteristics and seasonality, and it was linked to different dominant ECM fungal lineages across habitats. Soil enzymatic activities were habitat-dependent, driven by host plant identity and fungi with reduced structuring roles in the co-occurrence network (mainly within Thelephorales, Sebacinales and Pezizales). ECM fungal co-occurrence network structure and functioning were highly context-dependent, pointing to divergent regional fungal species pools according to their niche preferences. As increased network complexity was not related to greater soil functionality, functional redundancy might be operating in Mediterranean forest soils. The revealed differentiation between structural and functional roles of ECM fungi adds new insights into the understanding of soil fungal community assembly and its functionality in ecosystems.
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Claims 9
Claim · model-written summary
Ectomycorrhizal network complexity in Cistus albidus, Quercus faginea and Q. ilex relied on habitat characteristics and seasonality.
- Taxon
- Cistus albidus, Quercus faginea and Q. ilex
Quercus ilex
Cistus albidus
Quercus fagineae0 - Treatment
- habitat characteristics and seasonalitye1
- Outcome
- Network complexitye1
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Co-occurrence networks were inferred from ECM root tips of Cistus albidus, Quercus faginea and Q. ilex on a regional scale, in Mediterranean mixed forests”
e1“Network complexity relied on habitat characteristics and seasonality, and it was linked to different dominant ECM fungal lineages across habitats”
Claim · model-written summary
Ectomycorrhizal network complexity was linked to dominant ECM fungal lineages across habitats.
- Taxon
- Cistus albidus, Quercus faginea and Q. ilexQuercus ilexCistus albidusQuercus fagineae0
- Interactor
- ECM fungal lineagese1symbiont
- Outcome
- Network complexitye1
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Co-occurrence networks were inferred from ECM root tips of Cistus albidus, Quercus faginea and Q. ilex on a regional scale, in Mediterranean mixed forests”
e1“Network complexity relied on habitat characteristics and seasonality, and it was linked to different dominant ECM fungal lineages across habitats”
Claim · model-written summary
Soil enzymatic activities were habitat-dependent in the ECM host forests.
- Taxon
- Cistus albidus, Quercus faginea and Q. ilexQuercus ilexCistus albidusQuercus fagineae0
- Treatment
- habitate2
- Outcome
- Soil enzymatic activitiese2
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Co-occurrence networks were inferred from ECM root tips of Cistus albidus, Quercus faginea and Q. ilex on a regional scale, in Mediterranean mixed forests”
e2“Soil enzymatic activities were habitat-dependent, driven by host plant identity and fungi with reduced structuring roles in the co-occurrence network (mainly within Thelephorales, Sebacinales and Pezizales)”
Claim · model-written summary
Soil enzymatic activities were driven by host plant identity.
- Taxon
- Cistus albidus, Quercus faginea and Q. ilexQuercus ilexCistus albidusQuercus fagineae0
- Treatment
- host plant identitye2
- Outcome
- Soil enzymatic activitiese2
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Co-occurrence networks were inferred from ECM root tips of Cistus albidus, Quercus faginea and Q. ilex on a regional scale, in Mediterranean mixed forests”
e2“Soil enzymatic activities were habitat-dependent, driven by host plant identity and fungi with reduced structuring roles in the co-occurrence network (mainly within Thelephorales, Sebacinales and Pezizales)”
Claim · model-written summary
Soil enzymatic activities were driven by ECM fungi with reduced structuring roles in the co-occurrence network.
- Taxon
- Cistus albidus, Quercus faginea and Q. ilexQuercus ilexCistus albidusQuercus fagineae0
- Interactor
- Thelephorales, Sebacinales and PezizalesPezizalesThelephoralesSebacinalese2symbiont
- Outcome
- Soil enzymatic activitiese2
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Co-occurrence networks were inferred from ECM root tips of Cistus albidus, Quercus faginea and Q. ilex on a regional scale, in Mediterranean mixed forests”
e2“Soil enzymatic activities were habitat-dependent, driven by host plant identity and fungi with reduced structuring roles in the co-occurrence network (mainly within Thelephorales, Sebacinales and Pezizales)”
Claim · model-written summary
ECM fungal co-occurrence network structure and functioning were highly context-dependent.
- Taxon
- Cistus albidus, Quercus faginea and Q. ilexQuercus ilexCistus albidusQuercus fagineae0
- Outcome
- ECM fungal co-occurrence network structure and functioninge3
- Qualifier
- highly context-dependente3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Co-occurrence networks were inferred from ECM root tips of Cistus albidus, Quercus faginea and Q. ilex on a regional scale, in Mediterranean mixed forests”
e3“ECM fungal co-occurrence network structure and functioning were highly context-dependent”
Claim · model-written summary
Increased network complexity was not related to greater soil functionality.
- Taxon
- Cistus albidus, Quercus faginea and Q. ilexQuercus ilexCistus albidusQuercus fagineae0
- Treatment
- increased network complexitye4
- Outcome
- soil functionalitye4
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Co-occurrence networks were inferred from ECM root tips of Cistus albidus, Quercus faginea and Q. ilex on a regional scale, in Mediterranean mixed forests”
e4“As increased network complexity was not related to greater soil functionality, functional redundancy might be operating in Mediterranean forest soils”
Claim · model-written summary
Functional redundancy might be operating in Mediterranean forest soils.
- Taxon
- Cistus albidus, Quercus faginea and Q. ilexQuercus ilexCistus albidusQuercus fagineae0
- Outcome
- functional redundancye4
- Qualifier
- might be operating in Mediterranean forest soilse4
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Co-occurrence networks were inferred from ECM root tips of Cistus albidus, Quercus faginea and Q. ilex on a regional scale, in Mediterranean mixed forests”
e4“As increased network complexity was not related to greater soil functionality, functional redundancy might be operating in Mediterranean forest soils”
Claim · model-written summary
Structural and functional roles of ECM fungi are differentiated.
- Taxon
- Cistus albidus, Quercus faginea and Q. ilexQuercus ilexCistus albidusQuercus fagineae0
- Outcome
- differentiation between structural and functional roles of ECM fungie5
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Co-occurrence networks were inferred from ECM root tips of Cistus albidus, Quercus faginea and Q. ilex on a regional scale, in Mediterranean mixed forests”
e5“The revealed differentiation between structural and functional roles of ECM fungi adds new insights into the understanding of soil fungal community assembly and its functionality in ecosystems”