Root-associated fungi play a critical role in plant ecophysiology, growth, and subsequent responses to disturbances, so they are thought to be particularly instrumental in shaping vegetation dynamics after fire in the boreal forest. Despite increasing data on the distribution of fungal taxonomic diversity through space and time in boreal ecosystems, there are knowledge gaps with respect to linking these patterns to ecosystem function and process.

Here we explore what is currently known about post-fire root-associated fungi in the boreal forest. We focus on wildfire impacts on mycorrhizal fungi and the relationships between plant-fungal interactions and forest recovery in an effort to explore whether post-fire mycorrhizal dynamics underlie plant-soil feedbacks that may influence fire-facilitated vegetation shifts.

We characterize the mechanisms by which wildfire influences root-associated fungal community assembly. We identify scenarios of post-fire plant-fungal interactions that represent putative positive and negative plant-soil feedbacks that may impact successional trajectories. We highlight the need for empirical field observations and experiments to inform our ability to translate patterns of post-fire root-associated fungal diversity to ecological function and application in models.

We suggest that understanding post-fire interactions between root-associated fungi and plants is critical to predict fire effects on vegetation patterns, ecosystem function, future landscape flammability, and feedbacks to climate.