Ectomycorrhizal Community Shifts at a Former Uranium Mining Site

Ectomycorrhizal communities at young oak, pine, and birch stands in a former uranium mining site showed a low diversity of morphotypes with a preference for contact and short-distance exploration strategies formed by the fungi Russulaceae, Inocybaceae, Cortinariaceae, Thelephoraceae, Rhizopogonaceae, Tricholomataceae, as well as abundant Meliniomyces bicolor. In order to have better control over abiotic conditions, we established pot experiments with re-potted trees taken from the sites of direct investigation. This more standardized cultivation resulted in a lower diversity and decreased prominence of M. bicolor. In addition, the exploration strategies shifted to include long-distance exploration types. To mimic secondary succession with a high prevalence of fungal propagules present in the soil, inoculation of re-potted trees observed under standardized conditions for two years was used. The super-inoculation increased the effect of lower abundance and diversity of morphotypes. The contact morphotypes correlated with high Al, Cu, Fe, Sr, and U soil contents, the dark-colored short-distance exploration type did not show a specific preference for soil characteristics, and the medium fringe type with rhizomorphs on oaks correlated with total nitrogen. Thus, we could demonstrate that field trees, in a species-dependent manner, selected for ectomycorrhizal fungi with exploration types are likely to improve the plant’s tolerance to specific abiotic conditions.