Nearly 150 years of research has accumulated large amounts of data on mycorrhizal association types in plants. However, this important resource includes unreliable allocated traits for some species. An audit of six commonly used data sources revealed a high degree of consistency in the mycorrhizal status of most species, genera and families of vascular plants, but there were some records that contradict the majority of other data (~ 10% of data overall). Careful analysis of contradictory records using rigorous definitions of association types revealed that the majority were diagnosis errors, which often stem from references predating modern knowledge of mycorrhiza types. Other errors are linked to inadequate microscopic examinations of roots or plants with complex root anatomy, such as phi thickenings or beaded roots. Errors consistently occurred at much lower frequencies than correct records but have accumulated in uncorrected databases. This results in less accurate knowledge about dominant plants in some ecosystems because they were sampled more often. Errors have also propagated from one database to another over decades when data were amalgamated without checking their suitability. Due to these errors, it is often incorrect to designate plants reported to have inconsistent mycorrhizas as “facultatively mycorrhizal”. Updated protocols for resolving conflicting mycorrhizal data are provided here. These are based on standard morphological definitions of association types, which are the foundations of mycorrhizal science. This analysis also identifies the need for adequate training and mentoring of researchers to maintain the quality of mycorrhizal research.

近 150 年的研究积累了大量关于植物菌根关联类型的数据。然而，这一重要资源包括某些物种的不可靠分配特征。对六个常用数据源的审计显示，大多数维管植物物种、属和科的菌根状态高度一致，但也有一些记录与大多数其他数据相矛盾（约占数据总量的 10%）。使用严格的关联类型定义仔细分析相互矛盾的记录表明，大多数是诊断错误，这通常源于早于现代菌根类型知识的参考文献。其他错误与根部或具有复杂根部解剖结构的植物的显微镜检查不充分有关，例如 phi 增厚或串珠根。错误始终以比正确记录低得多的频率发生，但已在未更正的数据库中累积。这导致对某些生态系统中的优势植物的准确了解较少，因为它们被更频繁地采样。几十年来，当数据在没有检查其适用性的情况下合并时，错误也从一个数据库传播到另一个数据库。由于这些错误，将报告有不一致菌根的植物指定为“兼性菌根”通常是不正确的。此处提供了用于解决冲突菌根数据的更新协议。这些基于关联类型的标准形态定义，这是菌根科学的基础。该分析还确定了对研究人员进行充分培训和指导以保持菌根研究质量的必要性。