Global mycorrhizal fungal range sizes vary within and among mycorrhizal guilds but are not correlated with dispersal traits

Aim:

Mycorrhizal fungi associate with the majority of plant species with large consequences on ecosystem nutrient, carbon, and water cycling. Two main types of mycorrhizal fungi, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi, dominate terrestrial ecosystems. Most global distribution modeling of AM and EM mycorrhizal associations describe the distribution of AM and EM plants, and not fungi directly. However, significant functional trait variation occurs within AM and EM fungal guilds. Therefore, modeling range sizes and determinants of these ranges of fungi directly is likely to be a better proxy of ecosystem function than guild-level lumping of AM and EM plant distributions.

Location:

Global

Taxa:

Arbuscular mycorrhizal and ectomycorrhizal fungi

Methods:

Here, I calculated the ranges of 164 AM and 67 EM fungal taxa at the global scale and related range sizes to differences in spore sizes as a proxy of dispersal potential. If dispersal limitation a...