Xizang meadow degradation alters resource exchange ratio, network complexity, and biomass allocation tradeoff of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis

• The response of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis to environmental fluctuations involves resource exchange between host plants and fungal partners, associations between different AM fungal taxa, and biomass allocation between AM fungal spore and hyphal structures; yet a systematic understanding of these responses to meadow degradation remains relatively unknown, particularly in Xizang alpine meadow.
• Here, we approached this knowledge gap by labeling dual isotopes of air ¹³CO₂ and soil ¹⁵NH₄Cl, computing ecological networks of AM fungal communities, and quantifying AM fungal biomass allocation among spores, intra- and extraradical hyphae.
• We found that the exchange ratio of photosynthate and nitrogen between plants and AM fungi increased with the increasing severity of meadow degradation, indicating greater dependence of host plants on this symbiosis for resource acquisition. Additionally, using 18S rRNA gene metabarcoding, we found that AM fungal co-occurrence networks were more complex in more degraded meadows, supporting the stress gradient hypothesis. Meadow degradation also increased AM fungal biomass allocation toward traits associated with intra- and extraradical hyphae at the expense of spores.
• Our findings suggest that an integrated consideration of resource exchange, ecological networks, and biomass allocation may be important for the restoration of degraded ecosystems.