Speaker
Description
Understanding the climate and soil determinants of mycorrhizal fungal richness is essential for improving global carbon estimates and supporting nature-based climate strategies. Mycorrhizal fungi play a critical role in plant nutrient acquisition, soil carbon storage, and ecosystem resilience, yet their distribution patterns remain poorly represented in climate models. In this research, we combined a global dataset of vegetation plots with climatic, edaphic, and land type predictors to model and map the spatially smoothed richness of arbuscular (AM), ectomycorrhizal (EcM), and ericoid (ErM) mycorrhiza across major biomes. We applied generalized additive models (GAMs) to capture complex, non-linear relationships between mycorrhizal richness and environmental variables while accounting for spatial structure.
Our present results initially reveal a distinct biogeographical differentiation: AM richness peaks in tropical and subtropical ecosystems, particularly in grasslands and tropical forests; EcM richness dominates in temperate and boreal regions; and ErM richness is confined to cool, nutrient-poor, and mountainous environments. These large-scale patterns underscore the strong influence of climate and land type on mycorrhiza biodiversity. By integrating mycorrhizal biodiversity patterns into carbon accounting and land-use planning frameworks, this work can make carbon estimates more accurate and help guide fair, climate-neutral land management in Belgium and beyond.
| If your abstract is not accepted for an oral presentation, would you be interested in presenting it as a poster instead? | Yes |
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| If accepted by the Scientific Board, I agree to have my presentation/poster and abstract published on the Belgian Climate Centre websites and social media. | No |
