IFEVA   02662
INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACIONES FISIOLOGICAS Y ECOLOGICAS VINCULADAS A LA AGRICULTURA
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Role of foliar fungal endophytes on litter decomposition among species and population origins
Autor/es:
HELANDER M; ZABALGOGEAZCOA I; GUNDEL PE; VÁZQUEZ-DE-ALDANA BR; GARIBALDI LA; SAIKKONEN K
Revista:
FUNGAL ECOLOGY
Editorial:
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
Referencias:
Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2016 vol. 21 p. 50 - 56
ISSN:
1754-5048
Resumen:
Litter decomposition is a keyecosystem process which returns nutrients from dead plant material to mineralforms in the soil. We examined whether systemic fungal endophytes modulaterecycling of nutrients directly by altering litter decomposition. We studied litterdecomposition mediated by Epichloë endophytes in litter-bag experiments. Weexamined direct endophyte effects on litter decomposition in wild populationsand cultivars of Schedonorus phoenix and Schedonorus pratensis. In the firstexperiment, endophyte presence tended to increase litter decomposition rate incultivars of the two grass species (S. phoenix and S. pratensis). However, inthe second experiment plant origin had a stronger influence than endophytesymbiosis in S. phoenix. Interestingly, the initial level of alkaloids wasassociated positively with decomposition in S. phoenix populations.Characteristics associated with litter quality were not clearly related toeither endophytes or decomposition rate. Our results suggest that endophytescan enhance litter breakdown but their role in nutrient cycling is far morecomplex depending on plant population origin.