Abstract
Abstract Plant‐mycorrhizal type has been suggested as an integrator of plant functional traits, yet most of what is known about these relationships comes from studies of different plant taxa, where the effects of mycorrhizal type cannot be isolated. In addition to affecting carbon‐nutrient exchanges, plants that associate with distinct mycorrhizal types often differ in several traits, with consequences for myriad below‐ground processes. We used two common gardens planted with Populus fremontii , a tree species that can simultaneously associate with both arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi, to examine the degree to which mycorrhizal‐type dominance influences root traits and trait relationships across the root economic space. While P. fremontii formed AM and ECM associations simultaneously, individuals displayed a dominant mycorrhizal type driven primarily by garden location. Trees in the low‐elevation garden, regardless of provenance, were colonized primarily by AM fungi, whereas trees in the high‐elevation garden were colonized primarily by ECM fungi. In root systems at the low‐elevation garden, AM colonization rates were negatively related to specific root length indicating trade‐off with investment in foraging roots. In contrast, root systems at the high‐elevation garden, ECM colonization was negatively related to root tissue density, demonstrating a potential trade‐off between resource acquisition and root growth/defence. All other root economic traits remained similar between mycorrhizal types. While root traits varied little between AM‐ and ECM‐dominated trees (and gardens), their relationships with one another differed in each garden, suggesting unique strategies and trait trade‐offs in a single species. As global change continues to alter environments, species like P. fremontii , which experience a range of abiotic conditions, could signal how other tree species might modify root traits and strategies in response. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
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Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
P. fremontii formed AM and ECM associations simultaneously.
- Taxon
- P. fremontii
Populus fremontiie0 - Outcome
- formed AM and ECM associations simultaneouslye0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“P. fremontii formed AM and ECM associations simultaneously”
Claim · model-written summary
Garden location primarily determined dominant mycorrhizal type.
Not reportedTaxonDirection
Verbatim
e0“individuals displayed a dominant mycorrhizal type driven primarily by garden location”
Claim · model-written summary
Low elevation garden trees were primarily colonized by AM fungi.
- Taxon
- Treese0
- Interactor
- AM fungiGlomeromycotae0symbiont
- Outcome
- colonized primarily by AM fungie0
- Setting
- low‐elevation gardene0
Verbatim
e0“Trees in the low‐elevation garden, regardless of provenance, were colonized primarily by AM fungi”
Claim · model-written summary
High elevation garden trees were primarily colonized by ECM fungi.
Verbatim
e0“trees in the high‐elevation garden were colonized primarily by ECM fungi”
Claim · model-written summary
AM colonization was negatively related to specific root length in the low elevation garden.
- Interactor
- AMe0symbiont
- Outcome
- specific root lengthe0
- Direction
- negatively relatede0
- Setting
- low‐elevation gardene0
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“In root systems at the low‐elevation garden, AM colonization rates were negatively related to specific root length”
Claim · model-written summary
ECM colonization was negatively related to root tissue density in the high elevation garden.
- Interactor
- ECMe0symbiont
- Outcome
- root tissue densitye0
- Direction
- negatively relatede0
- Setting
- high‐elevation gardene0
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“root systems at the high‐elevation garden, ECM colonization was negatively related to root tissue density”
Claim · model-written summary
Other root economic traits were similar across mycorrhizal types.
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“All other root economic traits remained similar between mycorrhizal types.”
Claim · model-written summary
Relationships among root traits differed between gardens.
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“their relationships with one another differed in each garden”