Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community composition is altered by long‐term litter removal but not litter addition in a lowland tropical forest

• DOI: 10.1111/nph.14384
• Publication Date: 2017-01-02T13:26:44Z
• Authors: Merlin Sheldrake; Nicholas P. Rosen...; Daniel Revillini; Pål Axel Olsson; Scott Mangan; Emma J. Sayer; Håkan Wallander; Benjamin L. Turner; Edmund V. J. Tanner
• Keywords: Litter; Plant litter; Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; Agroecosystem

Summary Tropical forest productivity is sustained by the cycling of nutrients through decomposing organic matter. Arbuscular mycorrhizal ( AM ) fungi play a key role in nutrition tropical trees, yet there has been little experimental investigation into nutrient via material forests. We evaluated responses long‐term leaf litter addition and removal experiment Panama. described fungal communities using 454‐pyrosequencing, quantified proportion root length colonised microscopy, estimated biomass lipid biomarker. community composition was altered but not addition. Root colonisation substantially greater superficial layer compared with mineral soil. Overall lower treatment, which lacked an layer. There no effect manipulation on concentration biomarker hypothesise that reductions matter brought about may lead to obtaining from recalcitrant or sources soil, besides increasing competition for progressively limited resources.