Associations between mycorrhizal dominance and woody species diversity shift with stand development and climate across subtropical and tropical forests

Le résumé fourni par la source

Mycorrhizal symbioses influence woody species diversity, but whether this association shifts with forest stand development remains underexplored. Using forest inventory data across subtropical and tropical forests in Taiwan, we found that woody species diversity was lower in ectomycorrhizal (EM)-dominated than in arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM)-dominated forests, while forests with mixed mycorrhizal strategies supported the highest woody species diversity. However, these differences were strongest in early development stands and tended to converge towards high diversity in late development stands independent of mycorrhizal strategies. The negative association between EM dominance and woody species diversity was more pronounced in cold regions, while the diversity peak in mixed AM–EM forests strongly emerged in median climates and diminished towards warm and cold climates. In addition, forests with mixed mycorrhizal strategies promoted equal species abundances more persistently than high species richness. These findings highlight that associations between mycorrhizal strategies and woody species diversity depend on forest developmental stage, underpinning new understanding of subtropical and tropical forest recovery under global change.

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