Mycorrhizal feedbacks with global change: An ecophysiological perspective
G. M. MALCOLM (1). (1) The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, U.S.A.
It has been documented numerous times that ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal community composition shifts in response to changes in the environment, including temperature, moisture, nutrient availability, and atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> level, to name a few. Despite the influence of ECM fungi to the carbon economy of their hosts and to a variety of ecosystem functions in forests, little is known about the variation in the ecophysiological response of these fungi to different global change factors. This limits our ability to understand how ECM fungal community shifts in response to global climate change might impact important ecosystem functions. We can, however, build on some studies from the past decade that exposed species-level responses of ECM fungi to environmental factors to predict how these fungi might affect ecosystem functions as our global climate changes now and into the future. I will share implications for ecosystem functions with two examples, including a suite of studies suggesting that elevated CO<sub>2</sub> levels shift the ECM fungal community toward more rhizomorphic species and research I conducted that revealed that ECM fungi vary in their respiration responses to changes in temperature at short (physiological) and long (evolutionary) time scales. Additionally, I will point out where we need more research to strengthen our predictions on mycorrhizal feedbacks with global change.
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