Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) form symbiosis with most terrestrial plant roots, obtaining photosynthates in return for mineral nutrients. Ecological theories based on the economics of trading partnership predict that nutrient enrichment would suppress AMF. Experimental results from nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) additions, however, were highly variable, and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here we show distinct...

Elucidating the variation of allocation pattern of ecosystem net primary productivity ( NPP ) and its underlying mechanisms is critically important for understanding the changes of aboveground and belowground ecosystem functions. Under optimal partitioning theory, plants should allocate more NPP to the organ that acquires the most limiting resource, and this expectation has been widely used to explain and predict NPP allocatio...