Divergent habitat filtering of root and soil fungal communities in temperate beech forests.

ABSTRACT: Distance decay, the general reduction in similarity of community composition with increasing geographical distance, is known as predictor of spatial variation and distribution patterns of organisms. However, changes in fungal communities along environmental gradients are little known. Here we show that distance decays of soil-inhabiting and root-associated fungal assemblages differ, and identify explanatory environmental variables. High-throughput sequencing analysis of fungal communities of beech-dominated forests at three study sites across Germany shows that root-associated fungi are recruited from the soil fungal community. However, distance decay is substantially weaker in the root-associated than in the soil community. Variance partitioning of factors contributing to the observed dis

SUBMITTER: Goldmann K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4980589 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature