DISSERTATION RESEARCH: The Role of Plant Species in Shaping the Composition of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Communities in California Coastal Grasslands

我们目前只有一个基本的了解是什么控制丛枝菌根真菌（AMF），无处不在的根共生体的社区组成。 传统上，科学家们认为植物和AMF之间的关联是非物种特异性的，但最近的工作表明，植物和AMF物种都对特定的伴侣有偏好。 这些偏好如何影响AMF群落组成的混合植物群落仍不清楚。 为了完成我的论文，我在加州马林县的沿海草原工作，比较植物宿主对AMF群落组成的影响。 我将研究入侵植物单一栽培如何改变AMF组合，我将测试是否在当地社区的某些植物可以施加不成比例的影响AMF社区的另一个植物宿主。 此外，我的研究将描述AMF组合如何随着新植物物种和新物种组合的加入而发生变化。 这项研究的结果将说明如何入侵介导的植物群落的变化可以改变地下社区，因为地上的多样性损失可能反映了地下的多样性损失。 像这里提出的调查将帮助我们了解这些广泛的植物入侵的广泛的，生态系统层面的影响。

We currently have only a rudimentary understanding of what controls the community composition of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), ubiquitous root symbionts. Traditionally, scientists thought that associations between plants and AMF were non-species specific, but recent work shows that both plants and AMF species have preferences for particular partners. How these preferences affect AMF community composition in mixed plant communities remains unclear. For my dissertation, I am working in the California coastal prairies of Marin County to compare the effects of plant hosts on the composition of the AMF community. I will examine how invasive plant monocultures can alter AMF assemblages, and I will test whether certain plants in the local neighborhood can exert disproportionately large influence on the AMF community of another plant host. Additionally, my research will describe how AMF assemblages can shift as new plant species and new species combinations are added to the system. Results from this research will illustrate how invasion-mediated shifts in the plant community can alter belowground communities, since a loss of diversity aboveground may be mirrored by a loss of diversity belowground. Investigations such as the one proposed here will help us understand the broad, ecosystem-level implications of these widespread plant invasions.