Nature Communications · 11 September 2026 · From issue 35
Broad-scale shift in dominance of arbuscular mycorrhizal trees along the Japanese archipelago associated with tree diseases and climate warming
Japanese forests shifted toward one type of tree fungus partner in just 15 years.
Holger Schaefer, Naoyuki Yamashita et al.
Forests across Japan are changing which underground fungus partners their trees use. In just 15 years, trees that team up with one type of fungus network became more common. Climate warming and spreading tree diseases are pushing this shift. The change is linked to lower soil carbon to nitrogen ratios, which can affect how much nitrogen forest soil holds onto.
The time it took for one fungus-partner tree type to become more dominant across Japan's forests.
Japan only, over 13,000 plots, no data from other regions.
Integrity screen: passed (3 checks) Checked 12 September 2026. Retraction record: none. DOI resolves at doi.org. Metadata record found (Nature Communications). Read the source
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