Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1942/46603
Title: Towards understanding the impact of mycorrhizal fungal environments on the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems
Authors: NOUWEN, Olivier 
RINEAU, Francois 
Kohout, Petr
Baldrian, Petr
Eisenhauer, Nico
BEENAERTS, Natalie 
THIJS, Sofie 
VANGRONSVELD, Jaco 
SOUDZILOVSKAIA, Nadia 
Issue Date: 2025
Publisher: OXFORD UNIV PRESS
Source: FEMS microbiology, ecology, 101 (8) (Art N° fiaf062)
Abstract: Mutualistic interactions between plants and soil fungi, mycorrhizas, control carbon and nutrient fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems. Soil of ecosystems featuring a particular type of mycorrhiza exhibit specific properties across multiple dimensions of soil functioning. The knowledge about the impacts of mycorrhizal fungi on soil functioning accumulated so far, indicates that these impacts are of major importance, yet poorly conceptualized. We propose a concept of mycorrhizal fungal environments in soil. Within this concept, we discuss knowledge gaps related to the understanding and quantification of mycorrhizal fungal impacts. We introduce an experimental framework to address these gaps in a quantitative manner, and present the field experiment 'Mycotron', where we established vegetation series featuring three mycorrhizal types; ericoid (ERM), ecto- (ECM), and arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM), to quantitatively assess mycorrhizal fungal impacts on soil functioning. The experimental treatments entail manipulations in dominance levels of vegetation of three mycorrhizal types (AM, ECM, and ERM) in standardized soil conditions. This experiment constitutes a unique testbed to quantitatively evaluate the impacts of distinct mycorrhizal fungal environments on a large variety of ecosystem functions. Our approach aids the quantification of microbiota and plant-microbial interaction impacts on soil biochemical cycles. We propose a mycorrhizal fungal environment concept to describe and quantify the impacts of mycorrhizal fungi on soil processes and introduce the new Mycotron common garden experiment to implement and test this concept.
Notes: Nouwen, O (corresponding author), Hasselt Univ, Ctr Environm Sci, Environm Biol, Campus Diepenbeek,Agoralaan,GebouwD, B-3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium.
olivier.nouwen@uhasselt.be
Keywords: arbuscular mycorrhiza;ectomycorrhiza;ericoid mycorrhiza;Mycotron experiment;soil biochemical cycles;soil properties
Document URI: http://hdl.handle.net/1942/46603
ISSN: 0168-6496
e-ISSN: 1574-6941
DOI: 10.1093/femsec/fiaf062
ISI #: 001543036200001
Rights: The Author(s) 2025. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of FEMS. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Category: A1
Type: Journal Contribution
Appears in Collections:Research publications

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