Evolution of trees and mycorrhizal fungi intensifies silicate mineral weathering
Forested ecosystems diversified more than 350 Ma to become major engines of continental silicate weathering, regulating the Earth's atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration by driving calcium export into ocean carbonates. Our field experiments with mature trees demonstrate intensification of th...
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Published in | Biology letters (2005) Vol. 8; no. 6; pp. 1006 - 1011 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
England
The Royal Society
23.12.2012
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Forested ecosystems diversified more than 350 Ma to become major engines of continental silicate weathering, regulating the Earth's atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration by driving calcium export into ocean carbonates. Our field experiments with mature trees demonstrate intensification of this weathering engine as tree lineages diversified in concert with their symbiotic mycorrhizal fungi. Preferential hyphal colonization of the calcium silicate-bearing rock, basalt, progressively increased with advancement from arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) to later, independently evolved ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi, and from gymnosperm to angiosperm hosts with both fungal groups. This led to ‘trenching’ of silicate mineral surfaces by AM and EM fungi, with EM gymnosperms and angiosperms releasing calcium from basalt at twice the rate of AM gymnosperms. Our findings indicate mycorrhiza-driven weathering may have originated hundreds of millions of years earlier than previously recognized and subsequently intensified with the evolution of trees and mycorrhizas to affect the Earth's long-term CO2 and climate history. |
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Bibliography: | ArticleID:rsbl20120503 href:rsbl20120503.pdf istex:1651396DB471296F820F3B4E2BDB0EFECEBE6EBF ark:/67375/V84-ZV6CS18L-9 ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 |
ISSN: | 1744-9561 1744-957X |
DOI: | 10.1098/rsbl.2012.0503 |