Symbiotic fungi underlie the regeneration potential of island rainforests.
Cornwallis CK, Van Nuland ME, Wegmann A, Manley BF, Elhance J
Mycorrhizal Networks
When conservation teams replant tropical island forests, they often fail because they forget to bring the fungi — this research reveals that without the right underground partners, even the right tree species won't take root.
On a tiny, isolated Pacific island, scientists discovered that a common rainforest tree can only survive because of a very specific underground fungus that helps it absorb nutrients from seabird droppings. Without this fungal partner, the tree — which is the backbone of the whole island ecosystem — simply can't get what it needs to grow. Surprisingly, the burrowing of land crabs also helps by churning up the soil and allowing a wider variety of fungi to thrive.
Key Findings
Pisonia trees are obligately (exclusively) dependent on Tomentella fungi, which are uniquely adapted to survive the nutrient-extreme conditions caused by concentrated seabird guano.
Tomentella fungal abundance across the atoll was directly predicted by distance to pisonia trees, showing the fungi spread outward from their host.
Crab burrowing was associated with increased soil fungal diversity, including species that are new to science or globally rare.
chevron_right Technical Summary
A study of Palmyra Atoll found that pisonia trees — the keystone rainforest species of remote Pacific islands — depend entirely on a specific group of fungi called Tomentella to survive the extreme nutrient conditions created by seabird droppings. Crab burrowing also boosts fungal diversity, suggesting animal activity shapes the hidden fungal networks that hold island ecosystems together.
Abstract Preview
Symbioses can be vital on islands, where low species diversity leaves few alternative partners and the failure of associations can cascade into broader community collapse. Key to the functioning of...
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Pisonia is a genus of flowering plants in the four o'clock flower family, Nyctaginaceae. It was named for Dutch physician and naturalist Willem Piso (1611–1678). Certain species in this genus are known as catchbirdtrees, birdcatcher trees or birdlime trees because they catch birds. The sticky see...