10.5061/DRYAD.14C73
Gerz, Maret
University of Tartu
Guillermo Bueno, C.
University of Tartu
Ozinga, Wim A.
Radboud University Nijmegen
Zobel, Martin
University of Tartu
Moora, Mari
University of Tartu
Data from: Niche differentiation and expansion of plant species are
associated with mycorrhizal symbiosis
Dryad
dataset
2018
Mycorrhizal symbiosis
mycorrhizal flexibility
niche width
mycorrhizal status
mycorrhizal type
realized niche
2018-09-20T00:00:00Z
2018-09-20T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12873
406398 bytes
1
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Mycorrhizal symbiosis is a widespread association between plant roots and
mycorrhizal fungi, which is thought to contribute to plant niche
differentiation and expansion. However, this has so far not been
explicitly tested. To address the effect of mycorrhizal symbiosis on
plants’ realized niches, we addressed how mycorrhizal status (i.e. the
frequency of occurrence of mycorrhizal symbiosis), flexibility (i.e. the
ability to grow both with and without mycorrhizal symbiosis) and type of a
plant species affect the realized niche optima, widths and volumes. For
this, we used co-occurrence data from the flora of the Netherlands along
soil fertility, moisture, pH, salinity, light and temperature gradients.
Phylogenetic dependency of the species was taken into account using
phylogenetic generalized least squares models. We show that facultatively
and flexibly mycorrhizal plants have the widest niches compared to
non-mycorrhizal and obligately mycorrhizal, and inflexible plants
respectively. Among obligate plant symbionts, ecto- and ericoid
mycorrhizal plants exhibited the widest niches compared to plants with
other mycorrhizal types. Also, plants with different mycorrhizal statuses
and types differed in their realized niche optima. Synthesis. Our results
indicate that mycorrhizal symbiosis mediates plant niche differentiation
and expansion, facilitating the understanding of current distribution
patterns of plant species, as well as predicting shifts in plant
distribution and dominance due to environmental changes.
Mycorrhizal trait data and niche characteristics for vascular plants in
the Dutch floraFile includes updated mycorrhizal status, type and
flexibility data with new additional references, and realized niche
optima, widths and volumes along soil fertility, pH, moisture, salinity,
light and temperature axes for the vascular plant species in the Dutch
flora. Also, a legend is provided as a separate sheet in the file. More
details can be found in the README file.Gerz_2017_JEcol_data.xlsx