ectomycorrhizal fungi colonizing pine seedlings in spatial heterogeneity experiment

Using a greenhouse bioassay experiment, we explored how spatial heterogeneity of natural soil inoculum influences the performance of pine seedlings and composition of the EM fungi colonizing their roots. Sequencing internal transcribed spacer (ITS) amplicons of EM fungal DNA extracted from infected pine root tips, we illustrated that the diversity of EM fungal community was significantly higher when the distribution of soil inoculum was clumped. However, pine seedling performance was substantially improved when inoculum was homogenously mixed. Thus, there was a disconnection between pine performance, spatial distribution of soil inoculum (i.e., EM fungal spores), and diversity of EM fungi colonizing pine roots.