Building upon what is already known about AM fungalmediated
nutrient uptake in plants, we ask how many different
plant nutrients are enhanced by AM fungi and whether there is
functional specificity among AM fungi. Specifically, we predict:
(1) Highly mycorrhizal dependent plants will experience greater
nutrient increases when grown with AM fungi compared to
plants with less mycorrhizal dependency.
(2) AM fungi will differ in their ability to acquire different nutrients.
Therefore, a diverse community of AM fungi will provide hosts
with a greater number of nutrients than single AM isolates, due
to niche complementarity.