Arctic warming halves moist-tundra mycorrhizae

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Open-top chamber warming cut moist tussock ECM OTU richness from 138 to 71, but dry tundra fungal communities showed no significant treatment effect.

Source

Summer temperature increase has distinct effects on the ectomycorrhizal fungal communities of moist tussock and dry tundra in Arctic Alaska

Morgado LN, Semenova TA, Welker JM, et al. · Global change biology · 2015

doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12716 Read the full paper ↗47 citationscc by

Study at a glance

Design: Other — ITEX open-top chamber warming vs controls with ECM ITS2 sequencing near Toolik, Alaska
N: N=20 · 20 plots (moist tussock and dry tundra, warmed vs control)
Population: Ectomycorrhizal basidiomycetes in Alaskan moist tussock and dry tundra
Outcome: ECM OTU richness and community composition under experimental summer warming

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What they did

ITS2 Ion Torrent sequencing of ectomycorrhizal basidiomycetes from ITEX open-top chambers versus controls in moist tussock and dry tundra near Toolik, Alaska.

What they found

343 ECM OTUs; four genera held ~82% of richness. Moist tussock plot richness fell from 59±21 to 20±18 OTUs with warming (P=0.013). Dry tundra composition was uncorrelated with treatment (P=0.4288).

The limits

What it doesn't show

Sequence presence/absence is not proven function or carbon-flux change; OTCs also alter humidity and snow, so temperature is not fully isolated.

Key terms

ECM fungi: Ectomycorrhizal fungi that trade soil nutrients for plant carbon.
Open-top chamber (OTC): Hexagonal warmer used in ITEX summer-warming experiments.
Moist tussock tundra: Sedge-dominated Arctic vegetation with thick organic soils.
OTU: 97% ITS sequence cluster used as a fungal species proxy.
Exploration type (EMM): Mycelial foraging morphology (e.g., long-distance vs contact).

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Moist tussock ECM OTU totals with warming were about:

Common questions

Which tundra type lost ECM richness?

Moist tussock; richness roughly halved.

Dry tundra response?

No significant community–treatment correlation.

Dominant genera?

Tomentella, Cortinarius, Inocybe, Russula (~82%).

How was warming applied?

Hexagonal open-top chambers.