WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS
Across more than 13,000 forest plots, arbuscular-mycorrhizal tree dominance increased significantly over roughly 15 years and was associated with climate warming and tree diseases. Higher AM dominance was negatively related to the soil carbon-to-nitrogen stock ratio.
WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ
Forest change can reorganize belowground symbioses and nutrient cycling before those changes are obvious in simple canopy-cover metrics. Pest and disease dynamics may therefore alter biogeochemistry at broad scales.
CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY
The observational design establishes broad associations rather than proving a single causal pathway from warming or disease to symbiosis shifts. Soil consequences will vary with species composition and site conditions.
SOURCE
Nature Communications · Original evidence
View original evidence ↗