Land Use Change Reshapes Climate-Driven Diversity Patterns of Tropical Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi

TY - JOUR

T1 - Land Use Change Reshapes Climate-Driven Diversity Patterns of Tropical Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi

AU - Stewart, Justin D.

AU - Ramirez, Dario X.

AU - Leon-Reyes, Antonio

AU - Barriga, Noelia

AU - Llerena, Sol

AU - Manley, Bethan F.

AU - Carpintero-Salvador, Natalia

AU - Ruiz-Uriguen, Melany

AU - Raaijmakers, Jos M.

AU - Kiers, E. Toby

AU - Weedon, James T.

N1 - Data archiving: no NIOO data

PY - 2026/1/28

Y1 - 2026/1/28

N2 - Land use change and agricultural expansion threaten biodiversity yet the effects on soil life remain poorly understood, especially for microbes. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are microbes that form associations with most plant species and are essential for plant nutrient uptake. The diversity of these fungi is also sensitive to both land use change and regional climatic conditions. We therefore asked whether variation in AM fungal diversity is driven by land use change, and whether these effects are further influenced by interactions with temperature and precipitation gradients. To test this, we quantified AM fungal biodiversity in cultivated and adjacent uncultivated soils across a 1700 m elevational gradient (temperature: 7.7°C–16.5°C and precipitation: 1000–3500 mm). We found that conversion of uncultivated soils to agriculture reduced AM fungal richness by 80%, on average. Richness in uncultivated soils increased with the temperature gradient, while richness in farms declined. A similar but inverted trend was found for precipitation, where richness in uncultivated sites declined as precipitation increased. Uncultivated soils contained approximately three-fold more unique AM fungal species compared to cultivated soils. Our findings demonstrate that interactions between climate and land use strongly influence AM fungal biodiversity patterns in tropical mountain ecosystems. Incorporating both factors into conservation and sustainable agriculture strategies will be critical to preserving belowground biodiversity under global change.

AB - Land use change and agricultural expansion threaten biodiversity yet the effects on soil life remain poorly understood, especially for microbes. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are microbes that form associations with most plant species and are essential for plant nutrient uptake. The diversity of these fungi is also sensitive to both land use change and regional climatic conditions. We therefore asked whether variation in AM fungal diversity is driven by land use change, and whether these effects are further influenced by interactions with temperature and precipitation gradients. To test this, we quantified AM fungal biodiversity in cultivated and adjacent uncultivated soils across a 1700 m elevational gradient (temperature: 7.7°C–16.5°C and precipitation: 1000–3500 mm). We found that conversion of uncultivated soils to agriculture reduced AM fungal richness by 80%, on average. Richness in uncultivated soils increased with the temperature gradient, while richness in farms declined. A similar but inverted trend was found for precipitation, where richness in uncultivated sites declined as precipitation increased. Uncultivated soils contained approximately three-fold more unique AM fungal species compared to cultivated soils. Our findings demonstrate that interactions between climate and land use strongly influence AM fungal biodiversity patterns in tropical mountain ecosystems. Incorporating both factors into conservation and sustainable agriculture strategies will be critical to preserving belowground biodiversity under global change.

KW - arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

KW - biodiversity

KW - climate

KW - land use

KW - tropical mountain ecosystem

U2 - 10.1111/mec.70253

DO - 10.1111/mec.70253

M3 - Article

C2 - 41607130

AN - SCOPUS:105028928978

SN - 0962-1083

VL - 35

JO - Molecular Ecology

JF - Molecular Ecology

IS - 2

M1 - e70253

ER -