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Dispersal of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi: Evidence and Insights for Ecological Studies

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Abstract

Dispersal is a critical ecological process that modulates gene flow and contributes to the maintenance of genetic and taxonomic diversity within ecosystems. Despite an increasing global understanding of the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal diversity, distribution and prevalence in different biomes, we have largely ignored the main dispersal mechanisms of these organisms. To provide a geographical and scientific overview of the available data, we systematically searched for the direct evidence on the AM fungal dispersal agents (abiotic and biotic) and different propagule types (i.e. spores, extraradical hyphae or colonized root fragments). We show that the available data (37 articles) on AM fungal dispersal originates mostly from North America, from temperate ecosystems, from biotic dispersal agents (small mammals) and AM fungal spores as propagule type. Much lesser evidence exists from South American, Asian and African tropical systems and other dispersers such as large-bodied birds and mammals and non-spore propagule types. We did not find strong evidence that spore size varies across dispersal agents, but wind and large animals seem to be more efficient dispersers. However, the data is still too scarce to draw firm conclusions from this finding. We further discuss and propose critical research questions and potential approaches to advance the understanding of the ecology of AM fungi dispersal.

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Acknowledgements

We thank John Davison and the three anonymous referees for valuable comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.

Funding

This research was funded by São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) processes 2016/25197-0, 2018/16697-4 (granted to CP) and 2018/00212-1 (granted to LB). MG received a fellowship from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development CNPq. MÖ and CGB are funded by the European Regional Development Fund (Centre of Excellence EcolChange).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology, Institute of Biosciences, São Paulo State University, Av 24A 1515, Rio Claro, SP, 13506-900, Brazil

    Claudia Paz, Leticia Bulascoschi & Mauro Galetti

  2. Department of Botany, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Lai 40 Street, 51005, Tartu, Estonia

    Claudia Paz, Maarja Öpik & C. Guillermo Bueno

  3. Department of Biology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Miami, FL, 33146, USA

    Mauro Galetti

Authors
  1. Claudia Paz
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  2. Maarja Öpik
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  3. Leticia Bulascoschi
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  4. C. Guillermo Bueno
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  5. Mauro Galetti
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Contributions

All authors contributed to this review paper. Claudia Paz had the idea for the article; performed the literature search, data preparation, analyses and figures; and wrote the first draft. Maarja Öpik and C. Guillermo Bueno critically revised the work and contributed to writing and editing; Leticia Bulascoschi performed literature search and database organization; and Mauro Galetti contributed to article conception, critical revision and editing of drafts. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Claudia Paz.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Paz, C., Öpik, M., Bulascoschi, L. et al. Dispersal of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi: Evidence and Insights for Ecological Studies. Microb Ecol 81, 283–292 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-020-01582-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-020-01582-x

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