Experimental fungal community assembly
Molecular Ecology of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi
We aim at understanding the ecological and evolutionary determinants of biodiversity in natural arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF, Glomeromycota) assemblages. AMF are a prominent group of phylogenetically distinct root symbionts, fully dependent on living plants. Via reciprocal transfer and mixing of indigenous and foreign fungal assemblages together with their soil of origin, we try to tease apart the abiotic and biotic factors shaping the fungi’s populations and communities. Our field experiment is carried out with bioassay plants in grassland soils, which differ mainly in pH, at eight distant field locations across Switzerland.
We are particularly interested in the power of phylogenetic relatedness of introduced fungal strains to locally adapted assemblage members to predict establishment success. Is it similar environmental requirements or functional distinctiveness, or even chance, which decide about fungal co-occurrence?
Unprecedented anthropogenic activity challenges mycorrhizal fungi with new neighbors, whether through soil transfers, disturbance, or deliberate inoculation, with yet largely unknown implications for plant mineral nutrition and community dynamics.
Research topics
Molecular ecology of mycorrhizal fungi
Mycorrhizal fungal community phylogenetics (phylogeography & landscape genetics)
Ecophysiology of mycorrhizas
Description & practical use of mycorrhizal fungal assemblages in agricultural ecosystems
Interdisciplinary
Evolutionary ecology of symbioses
Ecological genetics of populations & communities
Morpho- & phylotaxonomy
Ecology under global change
Development of molecular genetic markers
