Succession and Changing Roles of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Communities in a Floodplain Chronosequence Model System

演替，即生物群落随时间的发展，是生态学的一个中心主题。越来越清楚的是，土壤生物在植物群落的演替中发挥着重要作用，但土壤微生物在这方面的作用仍然知之甚少，特别是关于丛枝菌根真菌(AMF)。AMF是与大多数植物共生的根，是土壤中普遍存在的成分。它们显著影响植物的生长和土壤过程。AMF的丰度和群落将如何随时间变化，以及这些变化如何影响植物和土壤？这些问题将通过蒙大拿州一条自由流动的河流创造的景观来解决，提供了一系列遗址年龄(0到70年)，一个自然实验室。通过测量不同年代土壤中AMF的丰度、物种组成和功能，可以更好地理解它们在演替中的作用。主要关注的是土壤团聚体的作用；AMF的这一作用有助于土壤的稳定，这是与抗侵蚀有关的关键特性。河流是景观中多样性的中心，而河流土壤是地球上最肥沃、最脆弱的土壤之一。这些土壤容易受到人类压力的增加，是陆地、地下水和河流系统之间重要的养分和废物缓冲区。因此，除了对了解生态演替做出基本贡献外，该项目的数据还将有助于为与河流有关的恢复和保护工作提供信息。

Succession, the development of biological communities through time, is a central theme of ecology. It is becoming increasingly clear that soil organisms play a large role in succession of plant communities, yet the role of soil microbes in this context is still very poorly understood, particularly with respect to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). AMF, common root associates with the majority of plants, are pervasive components of soils. They significantly influence plant growth and soil processes. How will AMF abundance and communities change through time, and how can these changes influence plants and soils? These questions will be addressed using the landscape created by a free-flowing river in Montana, providing a sequence of site ages (0 to 70 years), a natural laboratory. By measuring AMF abundance, species composition, and function in soils of these different ages, a better understanding of their role in succession can be derived. The main focus is the function of soil aggregation; this action of AMF contributes to the stabilization of soils, a crucial property related to erosion resistance. Rivers are organizing centers of diversity in a landscape, and riverine soils are among the most fertile, yet fragile on Earth. These soils, which are subject to increased exposure to pressures from humans, represent important nutrient and waste buffers between terrestrial, groundwater and river systems. Therefore, in addition to fundamental contributions to understanding ecological succession, data from this project will also serve to inform restoration and conservation efforts related to rivers.