Boreal forest soils store significant amounts of carbon and are cohabited by saprotrophic and ectomycorrhizal fungi (ECM). The \uffe2\uff80\uff98Gadgil effect\uffe2\uff80\uff99 implies antagonistic interactions between saprotrophic fungi and ECM. Plant photosynthates support the competitive fitness of the ECM, and may also shape the soil bacterial communities. Many \uffe2\uff80\uff98Gadgil effect\uffe2\uff80\uff99 experiments have focused on litter layer (OL) or have litter and root-fragments present, and thus possibly favor the saprotrophs. We compared how the restriction of plant roots and exudates affect soil microbial community structures in organic soil (mixed OF and OH). For this, we established a 3-yr field experiment with 3 different mesh treatments affecting the penetration of plant roots and external fungal hyphae. Exclusion of plant photosynthates induced modest changes in both fungal and bacterial community structures, but not to potential functionality of the microbial community. The microbial community was resilient towards rather short-term disturbances. Contrary to the \uffe2\uff80\uff98Gadgil effect\uffe2\uff80\uff99, mesh treatments restricting the entrance of plant roots and external fungal hyphae did not favor saprotrophs that originally inhabited the soil. Thus, we propose that different substrate preferences (fresh litter vs. fermented or humified soil), rather than antagonism, maintain the spatial separation of saprotrophs and mycorrhizal fungi in boreal forest soils.
", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "570", "Hyphae", "577", "Plant Roots", "ectomycorrhiza", "Trees", "Soil", "03 medical and health sciences", "boreal forest soil", "Mycorrhizae", "Taiga", "saprotrophs", "Soil Microbiology", "2. Zero hunger", "0303 health sciences", "Microbiota", "Fungi", "Plants", "15. Life on land", "Gadgil effect", "Carbon", "functional gene profile", "13. Climate action", "ta1181", "microbial community"]}, "links": [{"href": "http://academic.oup.com/femsec/article-pdf/95/9/fiz133/29808832/fiz133.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1093/femsec/fiz133"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/FEMS%20Microbiology%20Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1093/femsec/fiz133", "name": "item", "description": "10.1093/femsec/fiz133", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1093/femsec/fiz133"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2019-08-23T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.3389/fpls.2021.682142", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:20:37Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2021-07-21", "title": "Shifts in the Abundances of Saprotrophic and Ectomycorrhizal Fungi With Altered Leaf Litter Inputs", "description": "Ectomycorrhizal (EcM) and saprotrophic fungi interact in the breakdown of organic matter, but the mechanisms underlying the EcM role on organic matter decomposition are not totally clear. We hypothesized that the ecological relations between EcM and saprotroph fungi are modulated by resources availability and accessibility, determining decomposition rates. We manipulated the amount of leaf litter inputs (No-Litter, Control Litter, Doubled Litter) on Trenched (root exclusion) and Non-Trenched plots (with roots) in a temperate deciduous forest of EcM-associated trees. Resultant shifts in soil fungal communities were determined by phospholipid fatty acids and DNA sequencing after 3 years, and CO2 fluxes were measured throughout this period. Different levels of leaf litter inputs generated a gradient of organic substrate availability and accessibility, altering the composition and ecological relations between EcM and saprotroph fungal communities. EcM fungi dominated at low levels of fresh organic substrates and lower organic matter quality, where short-distances exploration types seem to be better competitors, whereas saprotrophs and longer exploration types of EcM fungi tended to dominate at high levels of leaf litter inputs, where labile organic substrates were easily accessible. We were, however, not able to detect unequivocal signs of competition between these fungal groups for common resources. These results point to the relevance of substrate quality and availability as key factors determining the role of EcM and saprotroph fungi on litter and soil organic matter decay and represent a path forward on the capacity of organic matter decomposition of different exploration types of EcM fungi.Ectomycorrhizal (EcM) and saprotrophic fungi interact in the breakdown of organic matter, but the mechanisms underlying the EcM role on organic matter decomposition are not totally clear. We hypothesized that the ecological relations between EcM and saprotroph fungi are modulated by resources availability and accessibility, determining decomposition rates. We manipulated the amount of leaf litter inputs (No-Litter, Control Litter, Doubled Litter) on Trenched (root exclusion) and Non-Trenched plots (with roots) in a temperate deciduous forest of EcM-associated trees. Resultant shifts in soil fungal communities were determined by phospholipid fatty acids and DNA sequencing after 3 years, and CO2 fluxes were measured throughout this period. Different levels of leaf litter inputs generated a gradient of organic substrate availability and accessibility, altering the composition and ecological relations between EcM and saprotroph fungal communities. EcM fungi dominated at low levels of fresh organic substrates and lower organic matter quality, where short-distances exploration types seem to be better competitors, whereas saprotrophs and longer exploration types of EcM fungi tended to dominate at high levels of leaf litter inputs, where labile organic substrates were easily accessible. We were, however, not able to detect unequivocal signs of competition between these fungal groups for common resources. These results point to the relevance of substrate quality and availability as key factors determining the role of EcM and saprotroph fungi on litter and soil organic matter decay and represent a path forward on the capacity of organic matter decomposition of different exploration types of EcM fungi.