Skip to main content
2023 ESA Annual Meeting Main banner
Icon Legend
This session is not in your schedule.
This session is in your schedule. Click again to remove it.
Back

Contributed Talk

Session: : Mycorrhizae 2

COS 153-1 - Conservation value assessments do not reflect ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity in boreal forests

Wednesday, August 9, 2023
8:00 AM – 8:15 AM PDT
Location: D133-134
Abstract: Forestry has accelerated the transformation of boreal forests from long tree continuity towards younger, even-aged monocultures, and poses a serious threat to biodiversity. Conservation has focused mainly on aboveground biota, while effects on fungi and particularly ectomycorrhizal fungal species have received much less attention. Therefore, we evaluated whether the diversity of these fungi coincided with existing conservation value assessments across mature and old-growth forest stands in southern and northern regions of the Swedish boreal forest. The soil fungal community was investigated through DNA-metabarcoding, and compared to assessed forest conservation values, soil fertility, and tree continuity were analyzed with generalized linear models and ordinations. The forest conservation value was not a suitable indicator of ectomycorrhizal diversity across Sweden. Possibly, the longer history of intensive forest management in the south has resulted in lower richness of ectomycorrhizal species in forests with lower conservation value; however, other soil fungal groups remain to be tested. Overall, soil fertility - corresponding to tree species basal area - was the strongest indicator of ectomycorrhizal community composition in both regions. Future research evaluating the many dimensions of conservation (e.g. carbon sequestration and fungal biodiversity) in boreal forests is necessary to highlight whether there are trade-offs and/or synergies in terms of organic matter stocks and fungal diversity across forests of varying conservation value.