Collaborative Research: Relationship between Carbon Allocation to Mycorrhizal Fungi and Organic Nitrogen Use in Temperate Forests

真菌形成与植物根部密切相关的所谓“菌根”，在森林碳氮循环中起着至关重要的作用。在这项研究中，研究人员将使用现有的和新的技术来测量不同地点不同土壤氮素有效性的地下和从根到菌根真菌的碳流。还将评估菌根真菌是否允许树木直接从土壤中获取氨基酸。丛枝菌根真菌和外生菌根真菌是两种主要的菌根真菌，它们对碳氮循环的影响存在显著差异。这两种真菌的丰度和功能的变化将沿着土壤氮素梯度进行评估。这些实地研究结果将用于改进一个广泛用于生态系统管理的模型。第一次，活性有机氮和菌根真菌将被明确地纳入生态系统规模的模拟，从而完全将菌根真菌纳入我们对森林功能的概念和定量图景中。这项研究将弥合研究人员在森林生态系统、真菌和建模方面的差距。这项工作包括一个强大的教育组成部分，将把高中生、大学生和研究生纳入到该项目中。由于菌根真菌对森林生产力至关重要，更好地了解它们的功能也应该改善森林管理。

Fungi form so-called "mycorrhizae" closely associated with plant roots and play a crucial role in forest carbon and nitrogen cycling. In this study, researchers will use established and novel techniques to measure carbon flows belowground and from roots to the mycorrhizal fungi at different sites with varying soil nitrogen availability. Whether mycorrhizal fungi allow trees to directly acquire amino acids from the soil will also be assessed. The two main types of mycorrhizal fungi, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and ectomycorrhizal fungi, differ significantly in their effects on carbon and nitrogen cycling. Changes in the abundance and functions of these two fungal types will be assessed along the soil nitrogen gradient. These field results will be used to improve a model used extensively for ecosystem management. For the first time, labile organic nitrogen and mycorrhizal fungi will be explicitly incorporated into ecosystem-scale modeling, thereby fully integrating mycorrhizal fungi into our conceptual and quantitative picture of forest function. The research will bridge gaps among researchers studying forest ecosystems, fungi, and modeling. The work includes a strong educational component that will integrate high school students, college students, and graduate students into the project. Because mycorrhizal fungi are crucial to forest productivity, a better understanding of their functioning should also improve forest management.