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Ectomycorrhizal weathering, a matter of scale?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

M. M. Smits ,
S. Bonneville ,
S. Haward  and
J. R. Leake
M. M. Smits*
Affiliation:
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK
S. Bonneville
Affiliation:
Earth and Biosphere Institute, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
S. Haward
Affiliation:
H.H. Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TL, UK
*
*E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Boreal forest trees influence mineral weathering rates via exudation and uptake processes. Most trees in the boreal forest live in symbiosis with ectomycorrhizal (EcM) fungi that sheath most of the root tips and form the main interface between the tree and the soil. Current weathering models do not take into account the nature and scale of fungal-mineral interactions. Here we show for the first time grain-scale effects of EcM fungi in symbiosis with a host plant on mineral weathering under sterile conditions. EcM fungi actively direct their growth and energy flow towards mineral grains containing essential nutrient elements for the tree and fungus.

Keywords

ectomycorrhizabiological weatheringmodellingapatitebiotitequartz14C
Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 72 , Issue 1 , February 2008 , pp. 131 - 134
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2008

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