Fig. 2: Observed relationship between ectomycorrhizal (EcM) tree dominance and carbon stocks in forests.

a Tree carbon stocks; (b) soil carbon stocks; (c) forest carbon stocks. Tree carbon stocks, soil carbon stocks and forest carbon stocks were natural log-transformed. EcM tree dominance is quantified as the EcM tree dominance based on tree basal area. The straight lines in each figure was simple linear regression fitted across all forest plots. The solid line represents the regression fitted across all forest plots, with the solid line indicating a significant correlation (p < 0.05), and gray bands represent a 95% confidence interval. Each gray circle represents the data of one forest plot, with a total of 4525 plots for tree carbon stocks, 2035 plots for soil carbon stocks, and 2035 plots for forest carbon stocks.