Record ID No. |
5765 |
Author(s) |
Gomes S> I. F.*, Van Bodegom P.M., Merckx V. S. F. T. and Soudzilovskaia N. A. , 2019 |
Affiliation |
*Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands. |
Title |
Global distribution patterns of Mycoheterotrophy. |
Source. Vol.(no):Page |
Global Ecology and BIogeography: 1-13. |
Categories |
|
Subjects |
Biological Interaction Ecology |
Sub-subjects |
Nutrition |
Host |
NA |
Organism |
NA |
Country |
The Netherlands |
Abstracts |
Mycoheterotrophy is a mode of life where plants cheat the mycorrhizal symbiosis, receiving carbon via their fungal partners. Despite being widespread, mycoheterotrophic plants are locally rare, hampering the understanding of their global environmental drivers. Here, global environmental preferences of mycoheterotrphy were explored and the environmental drivers of differential habitat preferences of mycoheterotrphic plants associates with arbuscular (AM) and ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi were investigated.The largest global dataset of epiparasitic mycoheterotrophic plant species occurrences was compiled and the environmental factors, including soil type, climate, vegetation type and distribution patterns of mycorrhizal autotrophic plants,that relate to occurrence patterns of mycorheterotrophic plant species associated with AM and EM Fungi. Mycoheterotrophic plant species avoid cold and highly seasonal climates and show a strong preference for forests. AM‐associated mycoheterotrophs are predomi-nantly found in broadleaved tropical evergreen forests whereas EM‐associated myco-heterotrophs occur in temperate regions, mostly in broadleaved deciduous and evergreenneedleleaved forests. The abundance of AM and EM autotrophic plants was a weaker predictor for mycoheterotrophs occurrences than forest type. Temperature and precipi-tation variables – but not edaphic factors – were the best predictors explaining the dis-tribution patterns of mycoheterotrophs after accounting for the effects of forest type. For individual lineages, major differences in environmental preferences (often related toedaphic factors) occurred that were significantly associated with plant evolutionary rela-tionships, indicating that these cheater plants have limited adaptive capabilities. The results high-light the non‐trivial nature of mycorrhizal interactions, and indicate that identity of the partners is not enough to understand the underlying mechanisms promoting plant–fungal interactions in mycoheterotrophic plants. |