Record ID No. |
4331 |
Author(s) |
Steven K. Schmidta, Andrew J. King, Courtney L. Meier, William D. Bowman, Emily C. Farrer, Katharine N. Suding & Diana R. Nemergut , 2014 |
Affiliation |
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA, Email: steve.schmidt@colorado.edu |
Title |
Plant-microbe interactions at multiple scales across a high-elevation landscape |
Source. Vol.(no):Page |
Plant Ecology and Diversity |
Categories |
Mycorrhiza General |
Subjects |
Biological Interaction |
Sub-subjects |
Soil microorganism |
Host |
Plants |
Organism |
Microbes (Mycorrhiza) |
Country |
USA, N. America |
Abstracts |
Here we review the numerous studies of plant-microbe interactions conducted at the Niwot Ridge LTER site in Colorado, USA. By synthesising work at scales ranging from the rhizosphere to the landscape, we offer a mechanistic view of how these interactions are essential to understanding the spatial and temporal structuring of plant and microbial communities across this diverse and changing landscape. These new insights are also important for making predictions about how both plant and microbial communities and populations will respond to future changes in this environment, especially with regard to the potential uphill movement of plants and microbes in response to climate change and nitrogen deposition. We predict that the uphill movement of plants and microbes will be especially apparent, and have the most impact, in areas of the alpine that are now mostly plant free. These areas are currently undergoing a shift from a microbe-dominated ecosystem to one where microbe-plant interactions will play a critical role in reducing nutrient losses to downstream ecosystems. |