community-level phenomena and direct environmental impacts. Further studies will be
required to evaluate the relative importance of the factors affecting the mycorrhizal
symbiosis in the arcto-alpine conditions. For example, laboratory experiments on PNUE
of mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal plants at different temperature and nutrient
conditions would be required for precise model testing. Use of indigenous AM fungal
species and native soils as a substrate would increase the predictive power of
experiments. Additionally, identification of AM and DSE fungal communities from
different altitudes would be useful, especially when looking for the role and identity of
the fine endophyte. Manipulative field experiments where both the structure and function
of fungal communities would be monitored in the high-alpine conditions would
considerably increase our understanding of the role of mycorrhizal symbiosis in these
environments.