Characterising the response of plant-mycorrhizal networks to a changing alpine environment

Climate change and invasive species are destabilizing alpine plant-mycorrhizal networks, particularly in New Zealand’s Tongariro National Park. Warming increases fungal diversity for invasive Common Heather (Calluna vulgaris) while reducing it for native plants, also weakening the robustness of native plant-mycorrhizal interactions. The study used a factorial experiment combining warming and heather removal to analyze fungal community composition and network structure via DNA sequencing and bipartite network analysis. Findings reveal that warming and invasion interact synergistically, fragmenting native plant networks and highlighting the vulnerability of alpine ecosystems to multiple drivers of change.

Wild, L. Characterising the response of plant-mycorrhizal networks to a changing alpine environment. https://doi.org/10.26686/wgtn.16529784