Oral Presentation Australian Society for Microbiology Annual Scientific Meeting 2013

Interactive effects of climate change factors on mycorrhizal fungi (#159)

Sara Hortal 1 , Jeff Powell 1 , Ian Anderson 1 , Catriona Macdonald 1
  1. Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, University of Western Sydney, Penrith, NSW, Australia

Fungi play a key role in carbon and nutrient cycling in Australian sclerophyll forest soils, but little is known about how they will respond to future global change. In particular, the interactive effects of climate change factors (elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration and elevated temperature) on eucalypt soil fungal diversity and how effects may depend on soil characteristics are poorly understood. In this study we aim to determine the interactive effect of these factors on fungal communities under different soils during early stages of Eucalyptus tereticornis establishment. To do so, we collected soil monoliths from three forest sites in New South Wales (Australia) having different soil properties and we planted one E. tereticornis seedling in each monolith. Six plants in each soil type were grown for 9 months in controlled environment growth chambers under each of four different climate treatments, i.e. ambient conditions, elevated CO2 only, elevated temperature only or both elevated CO2 and temperature. At the end of the experiment, soil properties (nutrient contents, pH), plant growth (height, above and belowground biomass, leaf number, leaf area, branch number) and mycorrhizal status were characterized. Soil samples were also collected for the characterisation of bacterial and fungal community composition. Hyphal length and percentage of colonization of E. tereticornis roots by both ectomycorrizal and arbuscular fungi are being measured in the different climate treatments and soils. The identity of the different ectomycorrhizal morphotypes is being established by molecular analysis (sequencing of the rDNA ITS region). In this talk I will show preliminary results of this experiment focusing on the responses of mycorrhizal fungi. Preliminary results show differences in percentage of ectomycorrhizal colonization among the three soils. Regardless of the soil, results show an increased percentage of colonization under elevated CO2 plus elevated temperature conditions with no changes on diversity. Possible implications of observed changes under a global change scenario will be discussed.