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Volume 93, Issue 10 p. 2274-2285
Article

Geographic divergence in a species-rich symbiosis: interactions between Monterey pines and ectomycorrhizal fungi

Jason D. Hoeksema

Corresponding Author

Jason D. Hoeksema

Department of Biology, 214 Shoemaker Hall, University of Mississippi, University, Mississippi 38677 USA

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Jesus Vargas Hernandez

Jesus Vargas Hernandez

Colegio de Postgraduados, Km. 36.5 Carretera Mexico-Texcoco, Montecillo, Mexico 56230

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Deborah L. Rogers

Deborah L. Rogers

Center for Natural Lands Management, 27258 Via Industria, Suite B, Temecula, California 92590 USA

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Luciana Luna Mendoza

Luciana Luna Mendoza

Grupo de Ecología y Conservación de Islas, A.C., Avenida Moctezuma 836, Zona Centro, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico 22800

Centre for Biodiversity and Biosecurity, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand 1142

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John N. Thompson

John N. Thompson

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064 USA

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First published: 01 October 2012
Citations: 33

Corresponding Editor: C. V. Hawkes.

Abstract

A key problem in evolutionary biology is to understand how multispecific networks are reshaped by evolutionary and coevolutionary processes as they spread across contrasting environments. To address this problem, we need studies that explicitly evaluate the multispecific guild structure of coevolutionary processes and some of their key outcomes such as local adaptation. We evaluated geographic variation in interactions between most extant native populations of Monterey pine (Pinus radiata) and the associated resistant-propagule community (RPC) of ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi, using a reciprocal cross-inoculation experiment with all factorial combinations of plant genotypes and soils with fungal guilds from each population. Our results suggest that the pine populations have diverged in community composition of their RPC fungi, and have also diverged genetically in several traits related to interactions of seedlings with particular EM fungi, growth, and biomass allocation. Patterns of genetic variation among pine populations for compatibility with EM fungi differed for the three dominant species of EM fungi, suggesting that Monterey pines can evolve differently in their compatibility with different symbiont species.