A research team led by Prof. BAI Yongfei from the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in collaboration with long-term partners, has highlighted the critical role of mycorrhizal symbiosis in enhancing soil organic carbon (SOC) storage in grassland ecosystems across China. The finding reveals how a hidden partnership between plants and mycorrhizal fungi plays a vital role in helping grasslands store more carbon - a key factor in combating climate change.
This mutually beneficial relationship between plants and fungi not only supports plant community diversity but also influences how plants allocate resources, ultimately impacting SOC storage.
The study was recently published in PNAS and combined extensive field survey data with the FungalROOT mycorrhizal plant database to investigate the mycorrhizal status of plants across diverse grassland communities. The researchers found that mycorrhizal fungi - tiny helpers in the soil - play a big role in helping grasslands store more carbon, both near the surface and deeper soil layers by promoting plant diversity and increasing the amount of biomass allocated to roots.
Grasslands dominated by plants that depend on mycorrhizal fungi stored notably more carbon than those with plants that don't depend on them as much. Additionally, as temperatures and rainfall increase, grassland communities tend to shift toward having more mycorrhizal-dependent plants, while the abundance of plants that can thrive without these fungi diminishes.
This research shed light on how mycorrhizal fungi in maintaining both plant diversity and SOC storage in grasslands, especially in the face of changing global environmental conditions. They also point to potential strategies for managing and enhancing carbon storage in grassland ecosystems, which could be crucial for climate change mitigation efforts.
Typical steppe ecosystem dominated by Stipa grandis and Leymus chinensis in the Xilin River basin, Inner Mongolia, China (Photo Credit: BAI Yongfei)
A research team led by Prof. BAI Yongfei from the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in collaboration with long-term partners, has highlighted the critical role of mycorrhizal symbiosis in enhancing soil organic carbon (SOC) storage in grassland ecosystems across China. The finding reveals how a hidden partnership between plants and mycorrhizal fungi plays a vital role in helping grasslands store more carbon - a key factor in combating climate change.
This mutually beneficial relationship between plants and fungi not only supports plant community diversity but also influences how plants allocate resources, ultimately impacting SOC storage.
The study was recently published in PNAS and combined extensive field survey data with the FungalROOT mycorrhizal plant database to investigate the mycorrhizal status of plants across diverse grassland communities. The researchers found that mycorrhizal fungi - tiny helpers in the soil - play a big role in helping grasslands store more carbon, both near the surface and deeper soil layers by promoting plant diversity and increasing the amount of biomass allocated to roots.
Grasslands dominated by plants that depend on mycorrhizal fungi stored notably more carbon than those with plants that don't depend on them as much. Additionally, as temperatures and rainfall increase, grassland communities tend to shift toward having more mycorrhizal-dependent plants, while the abundance of plants that can thrive without these fungi diminishes.
This research shed light on how mycorrhizal fungi in maintaining both plant diversity and SOC storage in grasslands, especially in the face of changing global environmental conditions. They also point to potential strategies for managing and enhancing carbon storage in grassland ecosystems, which could be crucial for climate change mitigation efforts.
Typical steppe ecosystem dominated by Stipa grandis and Leymus chinensis in the Xilin River basin, Inner Mongolia, China (Photo Credit: BAI Yongfei)