Data for: Fire season and time since fire determine AM fungal trait responses to fire management

Rationale: AM fungi are common mutualists in grassland and savanna systems
that are adapted to recurrent fire disturbance.  This long-term
adaptation to fire means that AM fungi display disturbance associated
traits which are useful for understanding environmental and temporal
effects on AM fungal community assembly.  Methods: In this work,
we evaluated how fire driven ecological selection on AM fungal spore
traits varies with fire season (Fall vs. Spring) and time since
fire.  We tested this by analyzing AM fungal spore traits (e.g.,
colorimetric, sporulation, and size) from a fire regime
experiment.   Key results: Immediately following Fall
and Spring fires, spore pigmentation darkened; however, this did not
mediate the observed differences between Fall burned and no burn
communities.  Six months after Fall fires, spores in burned plots
were lower in volume, produced less color rich pigment, and had higher
sporulation rates, and these differences in spore traits were associated
with shifts in AM fungal spore communities. Main conclusion: This shows
that AM fungal responses to fire vary based on season (stronger effects in
the Fall) and with time since fire.  Variation in AM fungal
responses to fire time may reflect greater exposure to fire in Fall, when
sporulation is highest.