Publications by authors named "Caylon Yates"
Leaf decomposition varies widely across temperate forests, shaped by factors like litter quality, climate, soil properties, and decomposers, but forest heterogeneity may mask local tree influences on decomposition and litter-associated microbiomes. We used a 24-yr-old common garden forest to quantify local soil conditioning impacts on decomposition and litter microbiology. We introduced leaf litter bags from 10 tree species (5 arbuscular mycorrhizal; 5 ectomycorrhizal) to soil plots conditioned by all 10 species in a full-factorial design.
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- Traditional approaches to studying fine roots overlooked their functional diversity, grouping them by size rather than by their specific roles, which may lead to mixed microbial signals in research.
- In a 26-year study, fine roots from four tree species were divided into absorptive and transportive types, revealing distinct microbial communities and functions associated with each root type.
- The research demonstrated significant differences in bacterial populations and metabolic functions related to sugar and nutrient transport between absorptive and transportive fine roots, highlighting the need to consider root function in microbiome studies.
Fine roots vary dramatically in their functions, which range from resource absorption to within-plant resource transport. These differences should alter resource availability to root-associated microorganisms, yet most root microbiome studies involve fine root homogenization. We hypothesized that microbial filtering would be greatest in the most distal roots.
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