Plant Growth Form Shapes the Global Biogeography of Mycorrhizal Symbioses

ABSTRACT Aim Most seed plants are associated with one of four major types of mycorrhizal fungi: arbuscular (AM), ectomycorrhizal (ECM), ericoid (ERM) or orchid (ORM) fungi. These mycorrhizal types have evolved in close association with plant growth form (i.e., woody vs. herbaceous species). However, it remains unclear how the biogeography of mycorrhizal plants varies across different growth forms. Location Global. Time Period Current. Major Taxa Studied Seed plants. Methods By integrating newly compiled databases of species distributions, mycorrhizal types and growth forms for over 300,000 seed plant species, we demonstrated how the geographic patterns of mycorrhizal plant species and their drivers vary between woody and herbaceous species. Results