Underground Explorers

Pasoh Forest Dynamics Plot is a 50 ha lowland tropical rainforest in Peninsular Malaysia that supports both arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and ectomycorrhizal (ECM) tree species. I will test whether canopy structural complexity (CSC) predicts the functional composition and spatial heterogeneity of mycorrhizal fungal communities across this mixed mycorrhizal forest. I will quantify CSC using terrestrial laser scanning in 30 quadrats and profile fungal communities from multiple soil cores per quadrat using 18S (AM) and ITS2 (ECM) amplicon sequencing. I predict that high CSC quadrats will show greater root trait dispersion, greater within-quadrat fungal beta diversity, and greater coexistence of contrasting foraging strategies, with the highest fungal functional richness in mixed mycorrhizal quadrats. Linking 3D canopy architecture to belowground function will establish lidar-derived canopy metrics as a non-destructive indicator of mycorrhizal diversity in tropical forests and inform which forest structures merit conservation as carbon reservoirs.