Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 13, 2025

Author Spotlight: Unraveling the Role of Earthworms in Enhancing Mineral Weathering for CO2 Removal
Published on: November 10, 2023
Decay by ectomycorrhizal fungi couples soil organic matter to nitrogen availability
William A Argiroff1, Donald R Zak1,2, Peter T Pellitier1
1School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
Abstract:
Interactions between soil nitrogen (N) availability, fungal community composition, and soil organic matter (SOM) regulate soil carbon (C) dynamics in many forest ecosystems, but context dependency in these relationships has precluded general predictive theory. We found that ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi with peroxidases decreased with increasing inorganic N availability across a natural inorganic N gradient in northern temperate forests, whereas ligninolytic fungal saprotrophs exhibited no response. Lignin-derived SOM and soil C were negatively correlated with ECM fungi with peroxidases and were positively correlated with inorganic N availability, suggesting decay of lignin-derived SOM by these ECM fungi reduced soil C storage. The correlations we observed link SOM decay in temperate forests to tradeoffs in tree N nutrition and ECM composition, and we propose SOM varies along a single continuum across temperate and boreal ecosystems depending upon how tree allocation to functionally distinct ECM taxa and environmental stress covary with soil N availability.
More Related Videos
09:38Single-throughput Complementary High-resolution Analytical Techniques for Characterizing Complex Natural Organic Matter Mixtures
Published on: January 7, 2019
10:16Design and Operation of a Continuous 13C and 15N Labeling Chamber for Uniform or Differential, Metabolic and Structural, Plant Isotope Labeling
Published on: January 16, 2014
Related Concept Videos
Overview of Nitrogen Metabolism
The largest pool of nitrogen available in the terrestrial ecosystem is gaseous nitrogen (N2) from the air, but this...
The Roles of Bacteria and Fungi in Plant Nutrition
The Nitrogen Cycle
Environmental Applications of Microorganisms
Inorganic Nitrogen Assimilation
Metabolism of Chemolithotrophs