 It may thus be a key functional trait reducing water stress in "C. geophilum".Other potential traits that C. geophilum may employ for water stress tolerance include the production and accumulation of compatible osmolytes  and the production of heat shock proteins.Nitrogen fertilization appears to have negative effects on the abundance of "C. geophilum", which may be the result of host trees allocating less carbon to ectomycorrhizal symbiosis when nitrogen in the soil becomes non-limiting to the plant growth.