Context-dependent benefits of forest soil addition on Aleppo pine seedling performance under drought and grass competition

Seedling establishment under natural conditions is limited by numerous interacting factors. Here, we tested the combined effects of drought, herbaceous competition, and ectomycorrhizal inoculation on the performance of Aleppo pine seedlings grown in a net-house. The roots of all pine seedlings were strongly dominated by Geopora, a fungal genus known to colonize seedlings in dry habitats. Ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) inoculum significantly increased seedling height, biomass, and the number of side branches. However, under either competition or drought, the positive effect of EMF on seedling biomass and height was greatly reduced, while the effect on shoot branching was maintained. Further, under a combination of drought and competition, EMF had no influence on either plant growth or shape. The discrepancy in pine performance across treatments highlights the complexity of benefits provided to seedlings by EMF under ecologically relevant settings.

• Publication year

  2024

• Venue

  Mycorrhiza

• Publication date

  2024-05-18

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1007/s00572-024-01151-xPMID 38762648PMCID 11166812
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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