Road Disturbance Shifts Root Fungal Symbiont Types and Reduces the Connectivity of Plant‐Fungal Co‐Occurrence Networks in Mountains

Roads are currently one of the most disruptive anthropogenic disturbances to mountain ecosystems worldwide. These disturbances can have a profound effect on roadside soil properties and vegetation, typically favouring fast-growing and ruderal species. However, their effect on plant-associated fungal communities and plant-fungal interactions remains largely unknown. In this study, we examined the changes in root-associated fungal communities as well as plant-fungal and fungal-fungal co-occurrence networks along mountain roads from four biogeographical regions. We found that roadsides consistently altered plant and fungal community composition, generally favouring arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and putative plant pathogens at the expense of ectomycorrhizal fungi. Moreover, roadsides consistently reduced the complexity of plant-fungal and fungal-fungal co-occurrence networks (with 66%-95% and 40%-94% reduction in total edge density, respectively), even though the richness of fungal communities was not reduced and many of the naturally occurring highly connected taxa were still present. Our findings suggest that altered and transient conditions in the roadsides may favour more generalist symbionts like AMF and pathogens with low fidelity for particular hosts as opposed to surrounding natural vegetation which is dominated by symbionts with higher specificity for the host (like ectomycorrhizal fungi). We conclude that road disturbance may have a consistent negative imprint on connectivity between plants and fungi; a consequence that deserves attention as it could render mountain roadside systems unstable and vulnerable to further pressures such as climate change and invasive species.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Molecular Ecology
Published
2025-04-25
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.17771
Citations
2
Primary Topic
Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plant Interactions
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
3.50

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Road Disturbance Shifts Root Fungal Symbiont Types and Reduces the Connectivity of Plant‐Fungal Co‐Occurrence Networks in Mountains

Michaela Vítková, Eduardo Fuentes‐Lillo, Anna Lučanová, Martín A. Núñez et al.
2 citations
Molecular Ecology
Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plant Interactions
3.50
article

Road Disturbance Shifts Root Fungal Symbiont Types and Reduces the Connectivity of Plant‐Fungal Co‐Occurrence Networks in Mountains

Michaela Vítková, Eduardo Fuentes‐Lillo, Anna Lučanová, Martín A. Núñez, Jonas J. Lembrechts, Valeria Aschero, Sylvia Haider, Jan Clavel, Jan Pergl, Agustina Barros, Ivan Nijs, Aníbal Pauchard, Dajana Radujković, Jonathan Lenoir, Amanda Ratier Backes, Erik Verbruggen
article en
2 citations

Abstract

Roads are currently one of the most disruptive anthropogenic disturbances to mountain ecosystems worldwide. These disturbances can have a profound effect on roadside soil properties and vegetation, typically favouring fast-growing and ruderal species. However, their effect on plant-associated fungal communities and plant-fungal interactions remains largely unknown. In this study, we examined the changes in root-associated fungal communities as well as plant-fungal and fungal-fungal co-occurrence networks along mountain roads from four biogeographical regions. We found that roadsides consistently altered plant and fungal community composition, generally favouring arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and putative plant pathogens at the expense of ectomycorrhizal fungi. Moreover, roadsides consistently reduced the complexity of plant-fungal and fungal-fungal co-occurrence networks (with 66%-95% and 40%-94% reduction in total edge density, respectively), even though the richness of fungal communities was not reduced and many of the naturally occurring highly connected taxa were still present. Our findings suggest that altered and transient conditions in the roadsides may favour more generalist symbionts like AMF and pathogens with low fidelity for particular hosts as opposed to surrounding natural vegetation which is dominated by symbionts with higher specificity for the host (like ectomycorrhizal fungi). We conclude that road disturbance may have a consistent negative imprint on connectivity between plants and fungi; a consequence that deserves attention as it could render mountain roadside systems unstable and vulnerable to further pressures such as climate change and invasive species.

Molecular EcologyVol. 34(20)
Leuphana University of Lüneburg (DE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), University of Antwerp (BE), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (AR), University of Concepción (CL), Utrecht University (NL), German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (DE), Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (CL), Ecologie et Dynamique des Systèmes Anthropisés (FR), Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Botany (CZ), University of Houston (US), Université de Picardie Jules Verne (FR), Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (DE)
Technology Agency of the Czech Republic, Biodiversa+, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Grantová Agentura České Republiky, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Akademie Věd České Republiky, Vlaamse regering, Deutsches Zentrum für integrative Biodiversitätsforschung Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo, Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico
Life in Land
Openalex Percentile: Top 9%
Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plant Interactions
3.50
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.