Ericoid mycorrhizal (ErM) shrubs commonly occur in forest understories and could therefore alter arbuscular (AM) and/or ectomycorrhizal (EcM) tree effects on soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics. Specifically, ErM fungi have extensive organic matter decay capabilities, and ErM plant and fungal tissues have high concentrations of secondary compounds that can form persistent complexes in the soil. Together, these traits could contribute to organic matter accumulation and inorganic nutrient limitation. These effects could also differ in AM- vs EcM-dominated stands at multiple scales within and among forest biomes by, for instance, altering fungal guild interactions. Most work on ErM effects in forests has been conducted in boreal forests dominated by EcM trees. However, ErM plants occur in c. 96, 69 and 29% of boreal, temperate and tropical forests, respectively. Within tropical montane forests, the effects of ErM plants could be particularly pronounced because their traits are more distinct from AM than EcM trees. Because ErM fungi can function as free-living saprotrophs, they could also be more resilient to forest disturbances than obligate symbionts. Further consideration of ErM effects within and among forest biomes could improve our understanding of how cooccurring mycorrhizal types interact to collectively affect soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics under changing conditions.

中文翻译：

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石蜡菌根植物和真菌对森林碳氮动态的功能作用

Ericoid mycorrhizal (ErM) 灌木通常出现在森林林下，因此可以改变丛枝 (AM) 和/或外生菌根 (EcM) 树对土壤碳和氮动态的影响。具体来说，ErM 真菌具有广泛的有机物质腐烂能力，并且 ErM 植物和真菌组织具有高浓度的次生化合物，可以在土壤中形成持久的复合物。总之，这些特征可能有助于有机物质积累和无机营养限制。这些影响也可能在森林生物群落内部和之间的多个尺度上以 AM 与 EcM 为主的林分不同，例如，通过改变真菌公会的相互作用。大多数关于森林中 ErM 效应的工作都是在以 EcM 树木为主的北方森林中进行的。然而，ErM 植物出现在c。分别占北方、温带和热带森林的 96%、69% 和 29%。在热带山地森林中，ErM 植物的影响可能特别明显，因为它们的特征与 AM 相比 EcM 树更明显。因为 ErM 真菌可以作为自由生活的腐生菌发挥作用，所以它们也比专性共生体更能抵御森林干扰。进一步考虑森林生物群落内部和之间的 ErM 效应可以提高我们对共同发生的菌根类型如何相互作用以在不断变化的条件下共同影响土壤碳和氮动态的理解。