Data for: Foraging speed and precision of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi under field conditions: An experimental approach

To better understand the ecology of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis, we need to measure functional traits of individual fungal virtual taxa under field conditions. The efficiency of AM fungi in locating nutrient-rich patches in soil space is one of their central traits in this symbiotic relationship. We used plots of a long-term field experiment in grassland with manipulated functional group composition of host plant community to establish ingrowth patches with substrate free of roots and fungi and with varying nutrient availability. Comparison of the original AM fungal community before patch creation with that present 9 weeks after patch establishment enabled us to estimate relative hyphal foraging speed for 41 fungal taxa, and a comparison of the fungal community in neighbouring patches differing in nutrient availability provided estimates of hyphal foraging precision for 22 taxa. Members of two dominant fungal families, Glomeraceae and Claroideoglomeraceae, differed in their fo...