2015 Hubbard Brook Annual Meeting—W. Thornton, NH—July 8, 2015

1. CARBON ALLOCATION TO
MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI IN RESPONSE
TO N AND P ADDITIONS
Jerome C. Barner
M.S. Candidate
S.U.N.Y. ESF

2. MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI
88% of land plants associate with mycorrhizal fungi, (Smith and
Read 2008)
Trees allocate up to 20% of photosynthate to fungi in return for
nutrients and water (Hobbie and Hobbie 2008)
Critical to nutrient cycling (Brundrett 2008)
Rhizomorphs = stable C pool (Brunner et al. 2013)

3. BELOWGROUND C
ALLOCATION
Carbon allocation belowground
• Fine root production
• Rhizosphere/microbes
• Fungi
Mark Brundrett 2008

4. 0
0.01
0.02
0.03
0.04
0.05
0.06
0.07
N + P Control P N
FineRootBiomass(g)
Treatment Plot
Fine Root Biomass Site C2
2014
2010
• Significant increase in fine root biomass
in NP plot in 2014
• Decrease in total soil respiration in all
treatment plots compared to control

5. OBJECTIVES
Compare belowground C allocation between the root,
microbial, and fungal compartments in response to
fertilization
Determine the effect of N, P, and NP fertilization treatments
on mycorrhizal species abundance and diversity

6. METHODS
Three young-mid successional stands in BEF (C1, C2, and
C4)
Fine root cores (0-10cm and 10-30cm depth classes) taken in
August 2014 (C2) and August 2015 (C1, C4)
Total soil respiration (2014-16), microbial respiration (2016)
Hyphal ingrowth bags, 40uM (Wallender et al. 2013)
Quantification of fungal communities
• Float hyphae
• Ergesterol extraction
• NextGen sequencing

7. EXPECTED RESULTS
Decrease in C allocation to fungi that produce voluminous
hyphae in the soil
Fungal species and diversity decrease in response to N, may
respond variably to P
Increase C allocation to fine root production in response to N
and P
Decrease total soil and heterotrophic respiration, increase in
autotrophic respiration

8. CITATIONS
Brundrett MC. 2008. Mycorrhizal Associations: The Web Resource. June 27 2015. ‹mycorrhizas.info›.
Brunner, I., I. Borja, L. Dalsgaard, G. Deckmyn, A. Ekblad, D.L. Godbold, I. G. Avalos, M. Lukac, K.
Kalbitz, K. Kriiska, I. Ostonen, A. Schnepf, P. Simoncic, E. Vanguelova. 2008. Belowground carbon
turnover in european forests: fine roots, mycorrhizal mycelia, soil organic matter and soil models.
Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow, and Landscape WSL. Technical Report.
Bloom, A.F., F.S. Chapin III, and H.A. Mooney. 1985. Resource limitation in plants – an economic
analogy. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 16: 363-392.
Chapin, F.S. III, A.J. Bloom, C.B. Field, and R.H. Waring. 1987. Plant responses to
multipleenvironmental factors. BioScience 37:49-57.
Elser, J, Bracken, E, Cleland, D, Gruner, W, Harpole, H. Hillebrand, J. Ngai, E. Seabloom, J. Shurin,
and J. Smith. 2007. Global analysis of nitrogen and phosphorus limitation of primary producers in
freshwater, marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Ecology Letters 10:1135-1142.
Hobbie, E.A., and J.E. Hobbie. 2008. Natural abundance of 15N in nitrogen-limited forests and tundra
can estimate nitrogen cycling through mycorrhizal fungi: a review. Ecosystems 11:815-830.
ReadS.E. and D. Smith. 2008. Mycorrhizal Symbiosis (Third Edition), vii – ix. London: Academic
Press.
Vadeboncoeur, M (2010). Meta-analysis of fertilization experiments indicates multiple limiting
nutrients in northeastern deciduous forests. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 2010, 40(9): 1766-
1780, 10.1139/X10-127
Wallander, H., A. Ekblad, D. L. Godbold, D. Johnson, A. Bahr, P. Baldrian, R. G. Björk. 2013.
Evaluation of Methods to Estimate Production, Biomass and Turnover of Ectomycorrhizal Mycelium in
Forests Soils – A Review. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 57: 1034–47.

9. PHOTO CREDITS
http://johnburk.zenfolio.com/p940279150/h80B7F38#h80b7f38
http://www.nhdfl.org/about-forests-and-lands/bureaus/natural-heritage-bureau/photo-
index/yellow-birch-forest.aspx
https://www.pinterest.com/springtimejelly/the-lake-tree-texture/
http://planthealthproducts.com/category/mycorrhizae/
http://wonkonthewildlife.com/category/climate-change-weather/

10. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Ruth Yanai, Tom Horton, Tim Fahey,
Matt Vadeboncoeur
Shoestringers past and present!
• Austin Frewert, Jalina Pannafino, Aaliyah
Jason, Matt Hayden, Brigid Farrell
Chris Costello and the USFS
NSF