Carbon use efficiency of mycorrhizal fungal mycelium increases during the growing season but decreases with forest age across a Pinus sylvestris chronosequence

In boreal forest soils, mycelium of mycorrhizal fungi is pivotal for regulating soil carbon (C) cycling and storage. The carbon use efficiency (CUE), a key parameter in C cycling models, can inform on the partitioning of C between microbial biomass, and potential soil storage, and respiration. Here, we test the dependency of mycorrhizal mycelial CUE on stand age and seasonality in managed boreal forest stands. Based on mycelial production and...