Use of 15N stable isotope to quantify nitrogen transfer between mycorrhizal plants

Abstract

Mycorrhizas (fungal roots) play vital roles in plant nutrient acquisition, performance and productivity in terrestrial ecosystems. Arbuscular mycorrhizas (AM) and ectomycorrhizas (EM) are mostly important since soil nutrients, including NH + 4 , NO 3 and phosphorus, are translocated from mycorrhizal fungi to plants. Individual species, genera and even families of plants could be interconnected by mycorrhizal mycelia to form common mycorrhizal networks (CMNs). The function of CMNs is to provide pathways for movement or transfer of nutrients from one plant to another. In the past four decades, both 15 N external labeling or enrichment (usually expressed as atom%) and 15 N naturally occurring abundance (d 15 N, &) techniques have been employed to trace the direction and magnitude of N transfer between plants, with their own advantages and limitations.