Beyond Plant Diversity: Plant Productivity Responses to Extreme Drought Are Linked to Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Diversity

Plant and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal diversity are both positively linked to ecosystem productivity across diverse ecosystems. However, given their high sensitivity to climate extremes such as extreme drought, the persistence and adaptability of these diversity-productivity relationships under rapid climate changes remain poorly understood. To address this, we established a grassland experiment at two proximate sites with distinct natural plant and AM fungal communities, imposing two contrasting extreme drought regimes (intense and chronic), each exceeding a 20-year recurrence interval based on site-specific precipitation records. We show that AM fungal diversity consistently outperforms plant diversity in predicting plant aboveground/net primary productivity (ANPP/NPP), as well as compositional shifts in plant species productivity, despite pronounced drought sensitivity in both communities. Notably, enhanced drought resistance in plant productivity was primarily associated with the stability of AM fungal richness rather than plant richness, highlighting their mutual dependence under extreme drought. Structural equation modelling confirmed that AM fungal richness buffered drought effects on ANPP, NPP and plant richness, with stronger effects on ANPP and NPP than those of plant richness and soil properties. These results suggest that AM fungal diversity may play a greater role than plant diversity in buffering plant communities against climate extremes. While causality remains to be fully resolved, these findings shed light on the adaptive significance of this ancient symbiont in sustaining ecosystem functioning under rapid climate change.