Data from: Host plant height explains the effect of nitrogen enrichment on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities

Nitrogen (N) enrichment is widely known to affect the root-associated
arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) community in different ways, for
example, via altering soil properties and/or shifting host plant
functional traits. However, empirical knowledge of their relative
importance is still lacking. Using a long-term N addition experiment, we
measured the AMF community taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity at the
single plant species (roots of 15 plant species) and plant community
(mixed roots) levels. We also measured four functional traits of 35 common
plant species along the N addition gradient. We found divergent responses
of AMF diversity to N addition for host plants with different innate
heights (i.e., plant natural height under unfertilized treatment).
Furthermore, our data showed that species-specific responses of AMF
diversity to N addition were negatively related to the change in maximum
plant height. When scaling up to the community level, N addition affected
AMF diversity mainly by increasing the maximum plant height, rather than
altering soil properties. Our results highlight that plant height drives
the AMF community dynamics under nitrogen enrichment at both species and
community levels, thus providing important implications for understanding
the response of AMF diversity to anthropogenic nitrogen deposition.