The importance of botanic gardens for global change research—New insights into Cambridge's hidden trufflekingdom

Botanic gardens offer unique opportunities for unravelling responses of plant life to climate change. Despite investigations into their aboveground sphere, the belowground realm is usually neglected. Cambridge University Botanic Garden now illuminates the hidden world of one of the most sought-after...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Centenaro, Giada, Glover, Beverley J., Piermattei, Alma, Thomas, Paul W., Cejka, Tomáˇs, Büntgen, Ulf
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2023
Country:España
Institution:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repository:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:10459.1/85427
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10356
http://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/85427
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Cambridge University Botanic Garden
Climate Change
Fungi-host interaction
Mushrooms
Fongs
Canvis climàtics
Bolets
Description
Summary:Botanic gardens offer unique opportunities for unravelling responses of plant life to climate change. Despite investigations into their aboveground sphere, the belowground realm is usually neglected. Cambridge University Botanic Garden now illuminates the hidden world of one of the most sought-after culinary delicacies—the Burgundy truffle. The garden's plant diversity, the serendipity of a truffle dog, and our curiosity-driven research agenda reveal insights into 278 truffle fruitbodies that grew symbiotically with an unusually high number of host species. Our study reinforces the power of botanic gardens to disentangle ecosystem processes and emphasizes the proximity of scientific and public interests in truffles.