Fig. 4.

Conceptual figure synthesising the new insights from this study into observed associations between fine roots and soil microorganisms. The fine root economics spectrum consists primarily of chemical root traits. Only fine root traits with significant or nearly significant associations with any fungal functional guild at α = 0.05 are included: root nitrogen content (RNC), root carbon content (RCC), root forks per root length (RFRL), specific root area (SRA), root dry matter content (RDMC), specific root length (SRL), and specific root tip abundance (SRTA). Red arrows indicate positive relationships, while blue arrows indicate negative relationships. Solid arrows indicate a significant association and broken arrows a nearly significant association at α = 0.05.