Dispersal limitation structures fungal community assembly in a long-term glacial chronosequence.
Environ Microbiol
; 16(6): 1538-48, 2014 Jun.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-24119055
ABSTRACT
Microbial communities in soil mediate biogeochemical processes; however, understanding forces shaping their composition and function remains a gap in our ecological knowledge. We investigated phylogenetic turnover and functional gene composition of saprotrophic fungi along a 4000-year glacial chronosequence. A direct relationship between ß-diversity and geographic distance, a proxy for time since deglaciation, indicated that dispersal limitation shapes saprotrophic fungal communities. Further, we infer that dispersal limitation may also influence fungal functional properties as metabolic potential and functional richness increased with site age. Despite attempts to minimize environmental variation, a direct relationship between ß-diversity and biogeochemical differences across sites indicated that environmental filtering further shapes fungal community composition. However, environmental filtering was overshadowed by the effect of dispersal limitation when tested by multiple regression. Fungal ß-diversity and composition of functional genes involved in plant litter decay were unrelated, suggesting that functional traits are not phylogenetically conserved across this chronosequence. Our study suggests that dispersal limitation operates in structuring present-day fungal community composition and functional potential. Further, we demonstrate the need to integrate functional and phylogenetic approaches to more accurately portray microbial communities and their functional capacities.
Texto completo:
1
Bases de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Microbiologia do Solo
/
Fungos
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Environ Microbiol
Assunto da revista:
MICROBIOLOGIA
/
SAUDE AMBIENTAL
Ano de publicação:
2014
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos