Abstract
Tree mycorrhizal type plays an important role in promoting plant species diversity and coexistence, via its mediating role in conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD), i.e., the process by which an individual’s performance is impaired by the density of conspecific plants. Previous findings suggest that ectomycorrhizal (EM) tree species are generally less susceptible to CNDD than arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) tree species, due to the chemical and physical protection that EM fungi provide their host with. We examined how CNDD effects on leaf herbivory, seedling growth, and survival differ between AM and EM seedlings of ten tree species collected over 3 years in an old-growth temperate forest in northeastern China. We found that AM and EM seedlings differed in how conspecific density affected their leaf herbivory, seedling growth, and survival. Specifically, AM seedlings leaf herbivory rates significantly increased with increasing conspecific seedling and adult density, and their growth and survival rates decreased with increasing conspecific adult density, these patterns were, however, absent in EM seedlings. Our work suggests that AM seedlings have a performance disadvantage relative to EM seedlings related to the negative effects from conspecific neighbors. We highlight the importance of integrating information on seedling leaf herbivory, seedling growth, to provide further understanding on potential mechanisms driving differences in CNDD between AM and EM tree seedlings.
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The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
We thank two anonymous reviewers for their valuable suggestions to improve the manuscript. We also would like to thank the lab members at the Northeast Forestry University that have made contributions to the census data in 9-ha forest dynamics plot. We appreciate the convenience provided by Liangshui National Field Observation and Research Station for forest Ecosystem.
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This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31870399, No. 32071533).
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XP and GJ conceived the idea; XP analyzed the data and drafted the manuscript with substantial comments from MW and MNU. All authors contributed to the revision of the manuscript.
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Pu, X., Weemstra, M., Jin, G. et al. Tree mycorrhizal type mediates conspecific negative density dependence effects on seedling herbivory, growth, and survival. Oecologia 199, 907–918 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-022-05224-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-022-05224-6