Changes in the nutrient cycling in the forest floor as a result of primary succession within the plant community may account for this fungal succession. As the forest ages, herbaceous ground flora is shaded out and an increasingly greater amount of recalcitrant, tree derived litter is input to the soil sub-system, litter residence time increases and litter accumulates on the forest floor. About the time of canopy closure, the fungal species diversity is at its highest and trees reach a peak of nutrient deficiency. It can thus be hypothesised that early mycorrhizal colonisers optimise nutrient uptake from available inorganic nutrient pools in the soil, derived from mineralisation of readily decomposable herbaceous litter. All rights reserved.
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