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Ectomycorrhizal Fungi Drive Positive Phylogenetic Plant–Soil Feedbacks In A Regionally Dominant Tropical Plant Family, R. Max Segnitz, Sabrina E. Russo, Stuart J. Davies, Kabir G. Peay

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

While work in temperate forests suggests that there are consistent differences in plant–soil feedback (PSF) between plants with arbuscular and ectomycorrhizal associations, it is unclear whether these differences exist in tropical rainforests. We tested the effects of mycorrhizal type, phylogenetic relationships to overstory species, and soil fertility on the growth of tree seedlings in a tropical Bornean rainforest with a high diversity of both ectomycorrhizal and arbuscular mycorrhizal trees. We found that ectomycorrhizal tree seedlings had higher growth in soils conditioned by close relatives and that this was associated with higher mycorrhizal colonization. By contrast, arbuscular mycorrhizal tree seedlings generally …