Regardless of N-substrate, multiple fungal root endophytes isolated from pastures outgrow and outcompete those isolated from undisturbed sites

- Biomass of cultured fungal endophytes depends on nutrients and fungal identity.
- Pasture fungi had high biomass with high nitrogen; native isolates varied more.
- Pasture fungi out-competed nearly all “native” fungi, regardless of nutrients.

Edaphic properties such as soil nutrients structure belowground fungal communities and alter their intimate interactions with plants. Yet little work has compared the traits of fungal root endophytes and tested if specific soil nutrients determine their growth and competition. We hypothesized that fungi isolated from particular resource environments should grow and compete better when resources matched their “home” environment. We conducted experiments to compare growth rate and competitive ability of eight fungal root endophytes, cultured from either low nutrient undisturbed sites or from sites converted to high nutrient pastures, varying the nutrient environments to match the different sites. In isolation, biomass depended on nutrient limitation and fungal identity. Pasture endophytes all had high biomass in high nitrogen environments while endophytes from undisturbed sites showed greater variation among isolates. In competition, growth differences quantitatively depended on the fungus's identity, its competitor's identity and nutrients, yet pasture fungi out-competed “undisturbed” fungi in nearly every case. Rapid growth and competitive ability appears to be a trait of these fungal endophytes isolated from pastures and not solely a product of high nutrients, which may inhibit successful reintroduction of fungi from undisturbed sites.