Ectomycorrhizas – out of Africa?

Ectomycorrhizas are the most frequent and widespread mycorrhizal type in the forests and woodlands of cool-temperate and boreal latitudes. Tree species from all the major plant families that provide the dominant trees of these regions (e.g. Pinaceae, Fagaceae, Betulaceae, Salicaceae) habitually form ectomycorrhizas under natural conditions. The ectomycorrhizal (ECM) habit shows particular adaptations for nutrient capture in temperate and boreal forests (Read & Perez-Moreno, 2003). On soils of low pH, where litter decomposition, for reasons of climate or litter quality, is slow, ectomycorrhizas are produced abundantly in soil-surface organic layers, and ECM fungi mobilize nitrogen and phosphorus from organic residues. There are strong links between plant mycorrhizal status and ecosystem carbon dynamics, because the foliage of temperate and boreal ECM…