OOS 2-2 - Forest mycobiome composition dictates tree growth and carbon capture across Europe

Monday, August 15, 2022

1:45 PM – 2:00 PM EDT

Location: 520D

Presenting Author(s)

CA

Colin Averill

ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Co-author(s)

MA

Mark A. Anthony

Postdoctoral Researcher
Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zürich
Zürich, Switzerland
TC

Thomas W. Crowther

ETH Zürich
Sv

Sietse van der Linde

UK Forest Research
LM

Laura Martinez-Suz

Kew Gardens
MB

Martin Bidartondo

Imperial College London
FC

Filipa Cox

University of Manchester
MS

Marcus Schaub

Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Switzerland
PR

Pasi Rautio

Natural Resources Institute Finland
MF

Marco Ferretti

Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL
LV

Lars Vesterdal

Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen
Bd

Bruno de Vos

lv@ign.ku.dk
MD

Mike Dettwiler

Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zürich
NE

Nadine Eickenscheidt

State Agency for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection of North Rhine-Westphalia
AS

Andreas Schmitz

State Agency for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection of North Rhine-Westphalia
HM

Henning Meesenberg

Northwest German Forest Research Institute
HA

Henning Andreae

Sachsenforst State Forest
FJ

Frank Jacob

Sachsenforst State Forest
HD

Hans-Peter Dietrich

Bavarian State Institute of Forestry
PW

Peter Waldner

Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL
AG

Arthur Gessler

Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Switzerland
BF

Beat Frey

Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL
OS

Oliver Schramm

Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL
Pv

Pim van den Bulk

The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research at Petten
AH

Arjan Hensen

pim.vandenbulk@tno.nl

Background/Question/Methods
Nearly all trees on Earth form a root symbiosis with mycorrhizal fungi, enhancing access to critically limiting soil resources. Yet, while decades of research have demonstrated particularly which fungi trees partner with can dramatically affect growth and carbon capture in greenhouse conditions, whether these findings extend to complex and diverse mycorrhizal communities within entire forests, remains unknown. Here we assembled a paired dataset of tree growth and soil mycorrhizal fungal composition data from >100 long term forest monitoring plots distributed across continental Europe. Using this dataset, we asked soil mycorrhizal fungal composition and nutrient acquisition traits could predict tree growth rate, after accounting for common environmental drivers of forest productivity.

Results/Conclusions
Here we show that, after accounting for environmental drivers, the composition of the forest mycorrhizal community is linked to 3-fold variation in tree growth and carbon capture. Furthermore, multiple fungal genomic traits were predictive of these compositional effects. Forest mycorrhizal fungal communities that invested comparatively more in inorganic, compared to organic nutrient acquisition strategies were linked to faster tree growth, consistent with the hypothesis that organic nutrients are ecologically more expensive to acquire. Finally, we identify key indicator species of these effects, laying the groundwork to trial how different fungi may be applied to enhance tree growth and carbon removal. As genomic surveys of the forest microbiome become more widespread, we predict that more links between microbial biodiversity and forest function will emerge, identifying how microbial interactions ultimately ripple through an ecosystem to govern macro-scale ecological processes.