Mycorrhizae, a form of plant-fungal symbioses, mediate vegetation impacts on ecosystem functioning. Climatic effects on decomposition and soil quality are suggested to drive mycorrhizal distributions, with arbuscular mycorrhizal plants prevailing in low-latitude/high-soil-quality areas and ectomycorrhizal (EcM) plants in high-latitude/low-soil-quality areas. However, these generalizations, based on coarse-resolution data, obscure finer-scale variations and result in high uncertainties in the predicted distributions of mycorrhizal types and their drivers. Using data from 31 lowland tropical forests, both at a coarse scale (mean-plot-level data) and fine scale (20 × 20 metres from a subset of 16 sites), we demonstrate that the distribution and abundance of EcM-associated trees are independent of soil quality. Resource exchange differences among mycorrhizal partners, stemming from diverse evolutionary origins of mycorrhizal fungi, may decouple soil fertility from the advantage provided by mycorrhizal associations. Additionally, distinct historical biogeographies and diversification patterns have led to differences in forest composition and nutrient-acquisition strategies across three major tropical regions. Notably, Africa and Asia's lowland tropical forests have abundant EcM trees, whereas they are relatively scarce in lowland neotropical forests. A greater understanding of the functional biology of mycorrhizal symbiosis is required, especially in the lowland tropics, to overcome biases from assuming similarity to temperate and boreal regions.

Asian School of the Environment Nanyang Technological University Singapore Singapore

Binatang Research Center Madang Papua New Guinea

Biology Centre Institute of Entomology of the Czech Academy of Sciences Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic

Center for Conservation and Sustainability Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute Washington DC USA

Center for Plant Science Innovation University of Nebraska Lincoln NE USA

Coordenação de Dinâmica Ambiental Manaus Brazil

Departamento de Ciencias Forestales Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Medellín Medellín Colombia

Departamento de Ecologia Instituto de Biociências Universidade de São Paulo São Paulo Brazil

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of California Los Angeles CA USA

Department of Ecology Evolution and Environmental Biology Columbia University New York NY USA

Department of Environmental Sciences University of Puerto Rico San Juan PR USA

Department of Plant Biology University of Illinois Urbana Champaign Urbana IL USA

Department of Science and Technology Uva Wellassa University Badulla Sri Lanka

Escuela de Ciencias Biológicas Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador Quito Ecuador

Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas Almería Spain

Faculty of Science and Technology Thammasat University Pathum Thani Thailand

Faculty of Science University of South Bohemia Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic

Faculty of Sciences University of Kisangani Kisangani Democratic Republic of the Congo

Forest Global Earth Observatory Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Washington DC USA

Forestry and Environment Division Forest Research Institute Malaysia Kepong Malaysia

Graduate School of Science Osaka Metropolitan University Osaka Japan

Herbario Amazónico Colombiano Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas Sinchi Bogotá Colombia

Herbier National du Gabon Institut de Pharmacopée et de Médecine Traditionelle Libreville Gabon

Institut de Recherche en Ecologie Tropicale Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique Libreville Gabon

Institut Facultaire des Sciences Agronomiques de Yangambi Kisangani Democratic Republic of the Congo

Institute of Molecular Biosciences Mahidol University Nakhon Pathom Thailand

Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique CNRS UPS IRD Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse France

National Biobank of Thailand National Science and Technology Development Agency Khlong Luang Thailand

Sabah Forestry Department Forest Research Centre Sandakan Malaysia

Sarawak Forestry Department Kuching Malaysia

School of Biological Sciences University of Aberdeen Aberdeen UK

School of Biological Sciences University of Nebraska Lincoln NE USA

School of Science Navajo Technical University Crownpoint NM USA

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Balboa Panama

Southeast Asia Rainforest Research Partnership Kota Kinabalu Malaysia

Thai Long Term Forest Ecological Research Project Department of Forest Biology Faculty of Forestry Kasetsart University Bangkok Thailand

UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Edinburgh UK

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Mycorrhizal symbioses and tree diversity in global forest communities