Browsing by Author "Mortimer, P. E."

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    Mycorrhizal-associated nutrient dynamics in key ecosystems and their response to a changing environment
    (Guizhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 2016-04-27) Heng, G.; Hyde, K. D.; Jianchu, X.; Valentine, A. J.; Mortimer, P. E.
    Environmental change incorporates the full range of natural and anthropogenic changes currently affecting the planet. These changes include fluxes within the carbon and nutrient cycles, resulting in disturbances at the ecosystem level, which may affect plant species distribution as well as soil systems. Mycorrhizal fungi form an important link between plants and soil systems, functioning at the root-soil interface, contributing towards nutrient cycling processes, and, ultimately, influencing the plant composition of terrestrial ecosystems. A more integrated and systemic understanding of these mycorrhizal associations can help us predict, and thus mitigate, the impact of environmental change on biotic communities. In this review we present the latest research on how the carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus dynamics of arbuscular and ectomycorrhiza vary in their representative ecosystems. Furthermore, we also demonstrate how they respond to environmental change, which relates to both biotic and abiotic factors, such as CO2-enrichment, nitrogen-depletion, and the impact of invasive species. This review provides insight on the role of mycorrhiza in offsetting the negative effects of environmental change.