Beatriz Águeda

Increased evapotranspiration demand in a Mediterranean climate might cause a decline in fungal yields under global warming

Wild fungi play a critical role in forest ecosystems, and its recollection is a relevant economic activity. Understanding fungal response to climate is necessary in order to predict future fungal production in Mediterranean forests under climate change scenarios. We used a 15-year data set to model the relationship between climate and epigeous fungal abundance and productivity, for mycorrhizal and saprotrophic guilds in a Mediterranean pine forest. The obtained models were used to predict fungal productivity for the 2021-2080 period by means of regional climate change models. Simple models based on early spring temperature and summer-autumn rainfall could provide accurate estimates for fungal abundance and productivity. Models including rainfall and climatic water balance showed similar results and explanatory power for the analyzed 15-year period. However, their predictions for the 2021-2080 period diverged. Rainfall-based models predicted a maintenance of fungal yield, whereas water balance-based models predicted a steady decrease of fungal productivity under a global warming scenario. Under Mediterranean conditions fungi responded to weather conditions in two distinct periods: early spring and late summer-autumn, suggesting a bimodal pattern of growth. Saprotrophic and mycorrhizal fungi showed differences in the climatic control. Increased atmospheric evaporative demand due to global warming might lead to a drop in fungal yields during the 21st century.

Tuber 2013: scientific advances in sustainable truffle culture.

Since the 3rd International Truffle Conference in Spoleto (2008), researchers have made considerable progress in advancing understanding of the biology and ecology of Tuber species and in improving the sustainable productivity of these valuable fungi. Publication of the black truffle, Tuber melanosporum Vittad., genome (Martin et al. 2010) has opened new possibilities to explore gene functions and population dynamics of black truffles. Newmolecular technologies provide valuable tools to monitor black truffle development (Parlade et al. 2013) and allow researchers and managers to monitor the success of new truffle plantations and the effects of cultivation treatments on truffle productivity. Given the significant impact of truffle plantations on local economies, the regional government of Aragon, together with other institutes and truffle grower groups (see “Acknowledgments”), organized the 1st International Congress of Trufficulture in Teruel on March 5–8, 2013. The province of Teruel (Aragon region, Spain) produces almost 20 % of the global truffle market and hosts 11 % of the world’s black truffle plantations. The main objective of the congress was to promote the sustainable productivity of truffles by highlighting and exchanging the latest scientific advances in truffle biology, ecology, and truffle plantation management among researchers, students, truffle hunters, truffle growers, forest managers, land-use planners, and rural entrepreneurs from around the world. The conference brought together 270 participants from 23 countries of Europe, North and South America, Australia, and New Zealand. More than 100 presentations, of which, 54 oral and the remaining posters, covered many aspects of truffle biology, genetics, taxonomy, ecology, cultivation, and commercialization. The congress also included market displays by regional truffle entrepreneurs and a local field trip to productive truffle plantations, seedling nurseries, and a truffle processing facility. Congress attendees thus experienced firsthand the many aspects of the region’s practicing truffle culture. The trip culminated with a delightful banquet where all enjoyed the essence of truffle cuisine.

How Ectomycorrhizae Structures Boost the Root System

Mycorrhizae are classic examples to explain the mutualistic interaction between two different organisms in nature: the roots of a vascular plant and a fungus. Both species establish a permanent relationship, they live together in symbiosis, and that differentiates the nature of mycorrhizae from other plant–fungus interactions. Ectomycorrhizal associations increase the root exploration area in soil, boosting the potential for mineral nutrition, water availability, and mutual survival of plant and fungus. The diversity of ectomycorrhizal fungal communities in the roots of spermatophyte plants is impressively high and means a complex diversity of structures in the root system, including emanating hyphae and rhizomorphs, which enlarge its area of influence. The distribution of the ectomycorrhizae living in the root system in an ever-changing balance is conditioned by many factors. Some of them are related with the root morphology of the host tree and also with ectomycorrhizal morphology, but abiotic factors (such as soil properties) also play a role.