Towards a unifying view of priming effects in temperate forests

DAAD ppp 7020289

Providing root exudates as energy source for microorganisms, plants influence microbial activity and consequently affect the turnover of soil organic matter (SOM). Changes in the rate of SOM turnover in the presence of living roots are termed “rhizosphere priming effects”. The mechanisms of the priming phenomena remain largely unknown and its ecological relevance is still to be quantified. Here, we propose to test the hypothesis that a plant’s association with symbiotic mycorrhizal fungi determine the magnitude and direction of priming effects.

The overall aim of the project is to investigate the impact of arbuscular (AMF) and ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi on rhizosphere priming and to reveal mechanisms leading to changes in the rate of SOM decomposition induced by fungi.