Socialism in soil? The importance of mycorrhizal fungal networks for facilitation in natural ecosystems

Summary 1. Almost all plants are engaged in symbiotic relationships with mycorrhizal fungi. These soil fungi can promote plant growth by supplying limiting nutrients to plant roots in return for plant assimilates. 2. Many mycorrhizal fungi are not host specific and one fungal individual can colonize and interconnect a considerable number of plants. The existence of these so‐called mycorrhizal networks implies that fungi have the potential to facilitate growth of other plants and distribute resources among plants irrespective of their size, status or identity. In this paper, we explore the significance of mycorrhizal fungal networks for individual plants and for plant communities. 3. We address the following…