AMF communities in soil of grasslands of differing age (deltaBEF)

The link between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning strengthens with ecosystem age. Arbuscular mycorrhizal are a potential driver, due to their role in plant survival and niche exploration. We study the development of AMF communities in the long-time biodiversity Jena Experiment. Nested within the pre-existing grasslands of varying plant diversity, subplots with combinations of common plant and soil histories were established: grassland plots with neither plant nor soil history, with only soil history, and with both plant and soil history. We found that bulk soil AMF communities were determined rather by soil history than by plant history. In monocultures of different plant species, AMF communities became more alike with common history, while in more diverse grasslands the AMF communities did not significantly converge or diverge over time. Our hypothesis that AM fungal communities might shift from mainly generalists to more specialists over time could not be confirmed. Communities in grasslands with plant or soil history were more similar to each other than to plots without any common history. Claroideoglomus showed tendencies of higher abundance in grasslands with soil history, while Paraglomus seemed to decrease in abundance over time. We found no interactive effect of plant diversity and history treatment.