Abstract
Summary 1. In England, the loss of lowland heathland, a habitat of global conservation importance, is primarily due to the invasion of birch and pine. This encroachment has been researched in depth from a plant perspective but little is known about the role of mycorrhizal fungi. In lowland heathlands the resident dwarf shrubs form ericoid mycorrhizas whereas invading trees form ectomycorrhizas. Therefore, tree encroachment into heathlands can be regarded as the replacement of a resident mycorrhizal community by an invading one. 2 . This study examined how fungi form mycorrhizas with Betula and Pinus in lowland heathlands. We addressed the question of whether there are mycorrhizal fungi that mediate invasion using a molecular ecology approach to compare the mycorrhizal inoculum potential of soil at three levels of invasion (uninvaded heathland, invaded heathland and woodland) and the fungi forming mycorrhizas on tree seedlings and trees across diverse sites. 3. We show that in lowland heathlands: (i) seedlings have severely limited access to ectomycorrhizal fungi relative to woodlands, (ii) there are few keystone spore‐dispersed ectomycorrhizal fungi that can mediate tree invasion, (iii) tree seedlings can remain non‐mycorrhizal for at least one year when no inoculum is present, even near saplings, and (iv) mycorrhizal seedlings achieve greater biomass than non‐mycorrhizal seedlings. Within uninvaded heathland we detected only Rhizopogon luteolus , Suillus variegatus , S. bovinus ( Pinus symbionts) and Laccaria proxima (primarily a Betula symbiont). 4. Synthesis . Overall, ectomycorrhizal inoculum in lowland heathlands is rare; most tree seedlings growing in heathland soil are not mycorrhizal due to limited spore dispersal, poorly developed spore banks and weak common mycorrhizal networks. These seedlings can persist awaiting mycorrhization to boost their growth.
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Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
Tree seedlings had severely limited access to ectomycorrhizal fungi in heathland compared with woodland.
- Organ / stage
- seedlingse1
- Outcome
- access to ectomycorrhizal fungie1
- Direction
- limitede1
- Comparator
- woodlandse1
Pinus
BetulaOrganisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“fungi form mycorrhizas with Betula and Pinus in lowland heathlands”
e1“seedlings have severely limited access to ectomycorrhizal fungi relative to woodlands”
Claim · model-written summary
Few keystone spore-dispersed ectomycorrhizal fungi were found that can mediate tree invasion.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“fungi form mycorrhizas with Betula and Pinus in lowland heathlands”
e2“there are few keystone spore‐dispersed ectomycorrhizal fungi that can mediate tree invasion”
Claim · model-written summary
Tree seedlings can remain non-mycorrhizal for at least one year when no inoculum is present.
- Organ / stage
- tree seedlingse3
- Outcome
- non‐mycorrhizale3
- Qualifier
- for at least one year when no inoculum is presente3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“fungi form mycorrhizas with Betula and Pinus in lowland heathlands”
e3“tree seedlings can remain non‐mycorrhizal for at least one year when no inoculum is present”
Claim · model-written summary
Mycorrhizal seedlings achieved greater biomass than non-mycorrhizal seedlings.
- Organ / stage
- seedlingse4
- Treatment
- mycorrhizale4
- Outcome
- biomasse4
- Direction
- greatere4
- Comparator
- non‐mycorrhizal seedlingse4
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“fungi form mycorrhizas with Betula and Pinus in lowland heathlands”
e4“mycorrhizal seedlings achieve greater biomass than non‐mycorrhizal seedlings”
Claim · model-written summary
In uninvaded heathland, Suillus variegatus and Rhizopogon luteolus were the only fungi detected on Pinus, with S. bovinus also present.
- Interactor
- Suillus variegatus
_Kuntze_27971.jpg?width=60)
Suillus variegatuse5symbiont - Second interactor
- Rhizopogon luteolus
_Figure_2.jpg?width=60)
Rhizopogon luteoluse5symbiont - Outcome
- detectede5
- Qualifier
- S. bovinuse5
- Setting
- uninvaded heathlande5
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
_Kuntze_27971.jpg?width=500)
_Figure_2.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“fungi form mycorrhizas with Betula and Pinus in lowland heathlands”
e5“Within uninvaded heathland we detected only Rhizopogon luteolus , Suillus variegatus , S. bovinus ( Pinus symbionts)”
Claim · model-written summary
Laccaria proxima was detected in uninvaded heathland, primarily as a Betula symbiont.
- Interactor
- Laccaria proxima
Laccaria proximae6symbiont - Outcome
- detectede6
- Qualifier
- primarily a Betula symbionte6
- Setting
- uninvaded heathlande6
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“fungi form mycorrhizas with Betula and Pinus in lowland heathlands”
e6“Within uninvaded heathland we detected only Rhizopogon luteolus , Suillus variegatus , S. bovinus ( Pinus symbionts) and Laccaria proxima (primarily a Betula symbiont)”
Claim · model-written summary
Most tree seedlings in heathland soil were not mycorrhizal, which is attributed to limited spore dispersal, poorly developed spore banks and weak common mycorrhizal networks.
- Organ / stage
- tree seedlingse7
- Outcome
- not mycorrhizale7
- Qualifier
- limited spore dispersal, poorly developed spore banks and weak common mycorrhizal networkse7
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“fungi form mycorrhizas with Betula and Pinus in lowland heathlands”
e7“most tree seedlings growing in heathland soil are not mycorrhizal due to limited spore dispersal, poorly developed spore banks and weak common mycorrhizal networks”
Claim · model-written summary
Ectomycorrhizal inoculum in lowland heathlands is rare.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“fungi form mycorrhizas with Betula and Pinus in lowland heathlands”
e1“ectomycorrhizal inoculum in lowland heathlands is rare”
The same questions in other papers
mycorrhiza · growth · PinusPositive and negative results
7 papers in the same direction as this paper · 1 in the opposite direction
- no effect
- positive
- positive
5 papers more in this group
See all 9 papers →mycorrhiza · growth · Betula (birches)Results agree
1 paper in the same direction as this paper
- positive
Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.