A nitrogen fertilization field study of carbon-13 and nitrogen-15 transfers in ectomycorrhizas of Pinus sabiniana.

Ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi form relationships with higher plants; plants transfer C to fungi, and fungi transfer nutrients to their host. While evidence indicates that this interaction is largely mutualistic, less is known about how nutrient supply and EM associates may alter C and nutrient exchanges, especially in intact plant-soil-microbe systems in the field. In a dual-labeling experiment with N fertilization, we used C and N stable isotopes to examine in situ transfers in EM pine trees in a Pinus sabiniana woodland in northern California. We added (15)NH4SO2 and (13)CO2 to track (13)C transfer from pine needles to EM roots and (15)N transfer from soil to EM roots and pine needles. Transfers of (13)C and (15)N differed with EM morphotype and with N fertilization. The brown morphotype received the least C per unit of N transferred (5:1); in contrast red and gold morphotypes gained more C and transferred less N (17:1 and 25:1, respectively). N fertilization increased N retention by ectomycorrhizas (EMs) but did not increase N transfer from EMs to pine needles. Therefore N fertilization positively affected both nutrient and C gains by EMs, increasing net C flows and N retention in EMs. Our work on intact and native trees/EM associations thereby extends earlier conclusions based on pot studies with young plants and culturable EM fungi; our results support the concept that EM-host relationships depend on species-level differences as well as responses to soil resources such as N.