Tripartite legume-rhizobia-mycorrhizae relationship is influenced by light and soil nitrogen in Neotropical canopy gaps.

Plants and their soil microbial symbionts influence ecosystem productivity and nutrient cycling, but the controls on these symbioses remain poorly understood. This is particularly true for plants in the Fabaceae family (hereafter legumes), which can associate with both arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and nitrogen (N) -fixing bacteria. Here we report results of the first manipulated field experiment to explore the abiotic and biotic controls of this tripartite symbiosis in Neotropical canopy gaps (hereafter gaps).