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Glite Dictionary
ectomycorrhizal

ectomycorrhizal

1 9.9
A close partnership where a fungus forms a coat around plant roots to help plant and fungus share nutrients
  • adjective
  • /ˌɛktoʊˌmaɪkəˈraɪzəl/
  • Specialized
: ectomicorrízico
  • Many forest ecosystems depend on ectomycorrhizal relationships to enhance water and nutrient uptake.
  • ectomycorrhizal fungi
  • ectomycorrhizal communities

Examples

  • Researchers study ectomycorrhizal fungi to understand their impact on plant health.

  • For example, coniferous forests in North America and eucalyptus forests in Australia support large guilds of highly specific ectomycorrhizal fungi.

    Academic text (2000)

  • Ectomycorrhizal fungi exhibit a considerable degree of variation in their host specificities.

    Academic text (2000)

  • While root-tip composition appears to be relatively constant across seasons for ectomycorrhizal fungi, hyphal abundances are much more dynamic (Koide et al. 2007).

    Academic text (2008)

  • While large shifts in assemblage patterns have been reasonably well documented for ectomycorrhizal fungi, the community response of saprotrophic and pathogenic fungi to major disturbances remains less clear.

    Academic text (2008)

  • The ectomycorrhizal fungi help trees absorb essential nutrients from the soil.

Surface Forms

ectomycorrhizal positive

Morphology

ectomycorrhizal = ectomycorrhiza (semi-transparent) = ecto + myco + rhiz + al

The word is transparently formed as an adjective from the technical noun 'ectomycorrhiza', but the scientific base term itself is not familiar to most B1 learners.

Etymology

Ectomycorrhizal breaks into three parts: ecto- 'outside', myco- 'fungus', like a 'mushroom', and -rhizal 'root'. So it describes fungi that live on the outside of plant roots, forming a cover around them and helping the plant take up nutrients.