Shifting microbial communities can enhance tree tolerance to changing climates

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Allsup, Cassandra M.; George, Isabelle; Lankau, Richard A.
• 署名单位: University of Wisconsin System; University of Wisconsin Madison
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-11070
• DOI: 10.1126/science.adf2027
• 发表日期: 2023-05-26
• 页码: 835-840
• 关键词: stress tolerance; extinction risk; abiotic stress; life-history; plants; dispersal; responses; symbiosis; habitat

摘要

Climate change is pushing species outside of their evolved tolerances. Plant populations must acclimate, adapt, or migrate to avoid extinction. However, because plants associate with diverse microbial communities that shape their phenotypes, shifts in microbial associations may provide an alternative source of climate tolerance. Here, we show that tree seedlings inoculated with microbial communities sourced from drier, warmer, or colder sites displayed higher survival when faced with drought, heat, or cold stress, respectively. Microbially mediated drought tolerance was associated with increased diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, whereas cold tolerance was associated with lower fungal richness, likely reflecting a reduced burden of nonadapted fungal taxa. Understanding microbially mediated climate tolerance may enhance our ability to predict and manage the adaptability of forest ecosystems to changing climates.