Climate change, endophyte symbiosis, and ecosystem engineering in dune ecosystems: Can fungi affect how plants build dunes?
J. A. RUDGERS (1), S. Emery (2). (1) University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, U.S.A.; (2) University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, U.S.A.
Dune ecosystems along the Atlantic Coast and in the Great Lakes are built by the pioneer grass species, <i>Ammophila breviligulata</i>, which can host an epichloid fungal endophyte. While endophyte symbiosis is uncommon in the Great Lakes region, the majority of plant material available for dune restorations has the endophyte. We investigated the effects of fungal symbiosis on dune ecosystem engineering by <i>Ammophila</i> in the context of climate change. We imposed both reductions and additions of growing season precipitation on plots of <i>Ammophila</i> at Leelanau State Park, Leelanau, MI. Within a plot, <i>Ammophila</i> plants were either artificially inoculated with the endophyte or sham-inoculated, in a factorial design. Symbiosis with the endophyte improved plant growth, even more so than water addition. However, the presence of the symbiotic fungus did not improve plant resilience to drought, as evidenced by the lack of a significant interaction between the endophyte treatment and precipitation manipulation. Endophyte symbiosis additionally caused faster sand accumulation, suggesting fungal benefits to dune engineering.
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