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Changes in soil hyphal abundance and viability can alter the patterns of hydraulic redistribution by plant roots

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Abstract

Background and aims

We conducted a mesocosm study to investigate the extent to which the process of hydraulic redistribution of soil water by plant roots is affected by mycorrhizosphere disturbance.

Methods

We used deuterium-labeled water to track the transfer of hydraulically lifted water (HLW) from well-hydrated donor oaks (Quercus agrifolia Nee.) to drought-stressed receiver seedlings growing together in mycorrhizal or fungicide-treated mesocosms. We hypothesized that the transfer of HLW from donor to receiver plants would be enhanced in undisturbed (non-fungicide-treated) mesocosms where an intact mycorrhizal hyphal network was present.

Results

Contrary to expectations, both upper soil and receiver seedlings contained significantly greater proportions of HLW in mesocosms where the abundance of mycorrhizal hyphal links between donor and receiver roots had been sharply reduced by fungicide application. Reduced soil hyphal density and viability likely hampered soil moisture retention properties in fungicide-treated mesocosms, thus leading to faster soil water depletion in upper compartments. The resulting steeper soil water potential gradient between taproot and upper compartments enhanced hydraulic redistribution in fungicide-treated mesocosms.

Conclusions

Belowground disturbances that reduce soil hyphal density and viability in the mycorrhizosphere can alter the patterns of hydraulic redistribution by roots through effects on soil hydraulic properties.

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Abbreviations

HLW:

Hydraulically lifted water

HL:

Hydraulic lift

CMN:

Common mycorrhizal network

δD:

Deuterium

EMF:

Ectomycorrhizal fungi

AMF:

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the US National Science Foundation Biocomplexity Program (DEB 9981548), and by the Spanish Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (AGL2006-11234). Francisco M. Padilla made helpful comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript. JI Querejeta acknowledges support from the “Ramón y Cajal” Program of the Spanish Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia. The experiments reported here comply with the current laws of the country in which the experiments were conducted (USA).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Conservación de Suelos y Aguas, Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CEBAS-CSIC), Campus Universitario de Espinardo, 30100, Murcia, Spain

    José Ignacio Querejeta

  2. Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, IL, USA

    Louise M. Egerton-Warburton

  3. Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (EEZA-CSIC), La Cañada de San Urbano, Almería, Spain

    Iván Prieto

  4. Departamento de Biología de la Conservación, Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada (CICESE), Ensenada, Mexico

    Rodrigo Vargas

  5. Center for Conservation Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA

    Michael F. Allen

Authors
  1. José Ignacio Querejeta
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  2. Louise M. Egerton-Warburton
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  3. Iván Prieto
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  4. Rodrigo Vargas
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  5. Michael F. Allen
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Correspondence to José Ignacio Querejeta.

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Responsible Editor: Angela Hodge.

José Ignacio Querejeta, Louise M. Egerton-Warburton and Iván Prieto contributed equally to this work.

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Querejeta, J.I., Egerton-Warburton, L.M., Prieto, I. et al. Changes in soil hyphal abundance and viability can alter the patterns of hydraulic redistribution by plant roots. Plant Soil 355, 63–73 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-011-1080-8

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