Study
Re-examining the evidence for the mother tree hypothesis – resource sharing among trees via ectomycorrhizal networks
Henriksson, Nils; Marshall, John; Högberg, Mona N.; Högberg, Peter; Polle, Andrea; Franklin, Oskar; Näsholm, Torgny
New Phytologist, 2023
A critical review of the evidence for the proposition that mature trees preferentially direct resources to related seedlings through mycorrhizal networks.
The reviewed evidence does not support preferential transfer to kin at ecologically meaningful levels; isotope-labelling designs frequently cannot distinguish transfer through fungi from transfer through soil or from fungal uptake itself.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
The mother tree hypothesis is not currently supported by the available evidence.
How NatureHQ reads it
Recorded alongside the review above because two independent critiques reaching similar conclusions is more informative than one. The methodological point is the durable part: labelling experiments have real difficulty showing that carbon found near a seedling actually went into the seedling by way of the fungal network.
- A review, so it inherits the limitations of the studies it examines.
- Reviews reflect their authors' judgement about which evidence counts.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Published by: Wiley journalsPublished in a Wiley journal.
This reference was resolved automatically against Crossref and OpenAlex on 2026-08-11.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-08-09.