Plant–fungal symbioses as ecological networks: the need to characterize more than just interaction patterns

doi:10.1016/j.funeco.2014.05.002

Fungal Ecology

Volume 12, December 2014, Pages 10-13

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.funeco.2014.05.002 Get rights and content

Highlights

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Network-based tools are increasingly used to study plant–fungal symbioses.
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Such an approach can provide little information if used improperly.
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More focus should be placed on biological drivers of interactions.
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Attention should be paid to the assumptions of network-based numerical tools.

Abstract

Next-generation sequencing technologies are providing us with new opportunities to characterize plant–fungal communities in more depth and with better replication than ever before. The application of network concepts and numerical tools to analyze those extensive data sets is also rapidly increasing. Here we show, however, that network-based tools will further advance our understanding of the ecology of plant–fungal symbioses if (1) researchers characterize both the interaction patterns among species, and investigate the likely biotic and abiotic drivers of such interactions (e.g. species' abundance, functional traits, environmental conditions) and (2) researchers make sure that the assumptions made by their network-based numerical tools are met by their data sets.

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Cited by (9)

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Citation Excerpt :
Studies based on a single network-level pattern may only explore biological mechanisms directly related to it and miss some important component of network assembly rules. As a whole, this stresses the importance of directly collecting biological data potentially related to network assembly instead of relying only on speculations arising from network patterns (Chagnon et al., 2014). For example, in the mycorrhizal literature, modular patterns of mycorrhizal interactions could be linked to plant traits (Chagnon et al., 2015), host life-style (Martos et al., 2012) or environmental filtering based on soil characteristics (Torrecillas et al., 2014).
Networks tools are being increasingly used in the study of plant-fungus interactions and likely to provide new insights in the way plant-fungus interactions are structured. At the same time, they raise new questions and challenges. Here, I highlight the most important problems and outline how network tools can be effectively used in mycorrhizal ecology. Network-based tools can be used to explore and visualize mycorrhizal interaction patterns: this can pave the way towards further empirical work and hypothesis testing. However, network-based tools cannot, by themselves alone, provide much insight about the ecological mechanisms driving the establishment of mycorrhizal interactions, because many mechanisms can yield a given network-level pattern. They also cannot help predicting the future dynamics of mycorrhizal communities, because modelling studies need to be conducted using parameters and rules that are relevant to the mycorrhizal symbiosis, which is not currently done. Also, drawing analogies between mycorrhizal networks and other types of networks must be made with caution, taking into account all the potential similarities, but also discrepancies, between these kinds of unrelated networks. I think that keeping the above issues in mind will be critical to keep the network-based approach viable and useful in mycorrhizal ecology.
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Plant and fungal species interactions differ between aboveground and belowground habitats in mountain forests of eastern China
2023, Science China Life Sciences
Plant community and soil properties drive arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal diversity: A case study in tropical forests
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Spatial ecology of ectomycorrhizal fungal communities
2016, Molecular Mycorrhizal Symbiosis
Mycorrhizas across scales: A journey between genomics, global patterns of biodiversity and biogeochemistry
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CommentaryPlant–fungal symbioses as ecological networks: the need to characterize more than just interaction patterns

Highlights

Abstract

Fungal Ecology

Trends in Plant Science

FEMS Microbiology Ecology

A consistent metric for nestedness analysis in ecological systems: reconciling concept and measurement

Oikos

Discussion of Dr Ripley's paper

Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B

Disentangling the web of life

Science

What do interaction network metrics tell us about specialization and biological traits?

Ecology

Measuring specialization in species interaction networks

BMC Ecology

Using ecological network theory to evaluate the causes and consequences of arbuscular mycorrhizal community structure

New Phytologist

Relative roles of niche and neutral processes in structuring a soil microbial community

ISME Journal

Ecological networks: delving into the architecture of biodiversity

Biology Letters

Commentary
Plant–fungal symbioses as ecological networks: the need to characterize more than just interaction patterns