AUTHOR=Zhu Chunchao , Wang Zihui , Deane David C. , Luo Wenqi , Chen Yongfa , Cao Yongjun , Lin Yumiao , Zhang Minhua TITLE=The Effects of Species Abundance, Spatial Distribution, and Phylogeny on a Plant-Ectomycorrhizal Fungal Network JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science VOLUME=13 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.784778 DOI=10.3389/fpls.2022.784778 ISSN=1664-462X ABSTRACT=

Plant and root fungal interactions are among the most important belowground ecological interactions, however, the mechanisms underlying pairwise interactions and network patterns of rhizosphere fungi and host plants remain unknown. We tested whether neutral process or spatial constraints individually or jointly best explained quantitative plant–ectomycorrhizal fungal network assembly in a subtropical forest in southern China. Results showed that the observed plant–ectomycorrhizal fungal network had low connectivity, high interaction evenness, and an intermediate level of specialization, with nestedness and modularity both greater than random expectation. Incorporating information on the relative abundance and spatial overlap of plants and fungi well predicted network nestedness and connectance, but not necessarily explained other network metrics such as specificity. Spatial overlap better predicted pairwise species interactions of plants and ectomycorrhizal fungi than species abundance or a combination of species abundance and spatial overlap. There was a significant phylogenetic signal on species degree and interaction strength for ectomycorrhizal fungal but not for plant species. Our study suggests that neutral processes (species abundance matching) and niche/dispersal-related processes (implied by spatial overlap and phylogeny) jointly drive the shaping of a plant-ectomycorrhizal fungal network.