Above- and belowground fungal biodiversity of Populus trees on a continental scale

Abstract

Understanding drivers of terrestrial fungal communities over large scales is an important challenge for predicting the fate of ecosystems under climate change and providing critical ecological context for bioengineering plant–microbe interactions in model systems. We conducted an extensive molecular and microscopy field study across the contiguous United States measuring natural variation in the Populus fungal microbiome among tree species, plant niche compartments and key symbionts. Our results show clear biodiversity hotspots and regional endemism of Populus-associated fungal communities explained by a combination of climate, soil and geographic factors. Modelling climate change impacts showed a deterioration of Populus mycorrhizal associations and an increase in potentially pathogenic foliar endophyte diversity and prevalence. Geographic differences among these symbiont groups in their sensitivity to environmental change are likely to influence broader forest health and ecosystem function. This dataset provides an above- and belowground atlas of Populus fungal biodiversity at a continental scale. This Resource defines fungal diversity of Populus trees and associations with climate variables on a continental scale.