2.5: Mycorrhizal Networks
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A symbiosis (sym- meaning shared, bio- meaning life) is when two or more organisms of different species live in close proximity to one another, sharing some aspect of their life cycle. A mutualism is a type of symbiosis in which both partners get a net benefit from the interaction. In other types of symbiosis, only one partner benefits and in a parasitic symbiosis, it is to the detriment of the other partner.
Most plants form a mutualistic symbiosis with fungi called a mycorrhizal relationship (myco- meaning fungus, rhiz- meaning root). In this particular partnership, the fungus enters the plant through the roots and takes sugars from the plant. In exchange, the plant takes water and dissolved nutrients (particularly nitrogen and phosphorus) from the fungus. Though both of these organisms lose something in the exchange, it is something that they tend to have a surplus of, while the thing they get in return is one that they would not have access to alone.
The fungus obtains its sugars from the living plant tissue. What terms could you apply to this organism?
The plant synthesizes its own sugars during photosynthesis. What terms could you apply to this organism?
Somewhat recently, a researcher named Suzanne Simard began tracking the exchange of nutrients through mycorrhizae. Not just from tree to fungus, but from tree to tree via connections to the same mycorrhizal partner. By providing certain trees with carbon dioxide containing a heavier isotope of carbon (C14), Dr. Simard could track the sugars formed from those heavy carbon atoms as they moved from tree to tree. What she found was that the connections extended beyond just one tree to another, but that almost all of the trees within her plot were connected through a network of different mycorrhizal fungi. Trees of different species and fungi of different species could exchange nutrients with each other. Further study revealed that the exchange was not limited to nutrients and water, but also included transfer of plant defense compounds that worked like raising an alarm, cuing the other plants to start producing defensive chemicals.
How might this information change the way we study ecosystems?
Sketch a few of the above ground plants that you can see (or imagine) and connect them below ground via a mycorrhizal network. Use arrows to indicate the flow of sugar through this network. Add in some disturbance that would set off a plant’s immune system (attack of the caterpillars, fungal infection, etc…) and depict the movement of the signal throughout the plant community.
Some plants have evolved to be parasitic by taking advantage of the mycorrhizal network. These plants no longer photosynthesize. Instead, they form relationships with mycorrhizal fungi that are attached to other plants, siphoning sugars from those plants through the fungal connection. For example, the parasitic plant Allotropa parasitizes the Matsutake mushroom, which is mycorrhizal with tanoaks and a few other trees.
Add a parasitic plant into your ecosystem above and use arrows to depict the movement of sugars.
Are these parasitic plants autotrophic or heterotrophic? How would you classify them, using ecology terminology? Explain your reasoning.