Integrated long-term responses of an arctic- alpine willow and associated ectomycorrhizal fungi to an altered environment

We evaluated ectomycorrhizal (ECM) colonization and morphotype community composition together with growth response and biomass distribution in the arctic–alpine, prostrate willow Salix herbacea L. × Salix polaris Wahlenb. after 11 seasons of shading, warming, and fertilization at a fellfield in subarctic Sweden. The aim was to assess responses of the integrated plant–fungal system to long-term field experiments simulating expected environmental changes. Warming more than doubled aboveground S. herbacea × S. polaris biomass and shoot growth, whereas shading and nutrient addition had less influence on these variables. In shaded plants, adjustments at leaf level probably buffered major changes in plant biomass allocation. Fertilization increased the root mass fraction and changed root system morphology by decreasing the number of root tips per unit root mass. While no long-term changes in total ECM colonization (%ECM root tips) in response to the treatments were identified, ECM colonization in June just afte...