From lilliput to brobdingnag: Extending models of mycorrhizal function across scales

Nancy Collins Johnson, Jason D. Hoeksema, James D. Bever, V. Bala Chaudhary, Catherine Gehring, John Klironomos, Roger Koide, R. Michael Miller, John Moore, Peter Moutoglis, Mark Schwartz, Suzanne Simard, William Swenson, James Umbanhowar, Gail Wilson, Catherine Zabinski

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

71 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mycorrhizae occur in nearly all terrestrial ecosystems. Resource exchange between host plants and mycorrhizal fungi influences community, ecosystem, and even global patterns and processes. Understanding the mechanisms and consequences of mycorrhizal symbioses across a hierarchy of scales will help predict system responses to environmental change and facilitate the management of these responses for sustainability and productivity. Conceptual and mathematical models have been developed to help understand and predict mycorrhizal functions. These models are most developed for individual- and population-scale processes, but models at community, ecosystem, and global scales are also beginning to emerge. We review seven types of mycorrhizal models that vary in their scale of resolution and dynamics, and discuss approaches for integrating these models with each other and with general models of terrestrial ecosystems.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)889-900
Number of pages12
JournalBioScience
Volume56
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2006

Keywords

  • Models
  • Mycorrhizae
  • Plant-microbe interactions
  • Scale
  • Stoichiometry

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Agricultural and Biological Sciences

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