Regional insight into savanna hydrogeomorphology from termite mounds.

Global vegetation models predict the spread of woody vegetation in African savannas and grasslands under future climate scenarios, but they operate too broadly to consider hillslope-scale variations in tree-grass distribution. Topographically linked hydrology-soil-vegetation sequences, or catenas, underpin a variety of ecological processes in savannas, including responses to climate change. In this study, we explore the three-dimensional structure of hillslopes and vegetation, using high-resolution airborne LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging), to understand the long-term effects of mean annual precipitation (MAP) on catena pattern. Our results reveal that the presence and position of hillslope hydrological boundaries, or seeplines, vary as a function of MAP through its long-term influence on clay redistribution. We suggest that changes in climate will differentially alter the structure of savannas through hydrological changes to the seasonally saturated grasslands downslope of seeplines. The mechanisms underlying future woody encroachment are not simply physiological responses to elevated temperatures and CO(2) levels but also involve hydrogeomorphological processes at the hillslope scale.

Ectomycorrhizal fungal community structure across a bog-forest ecotone in southeastern Alaska.

We examined the ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal community across a bog-forest ecotone in southeastern Alaska. The bog and edge were both characterized by poorly drained Histosols and a continuous layer of Sphagnum species, ericaceous shrubs, Carex species, and shore pine [Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud. var. contorta]. The forest had better-drained Inceptisols and Spodosols, a tree community comprised of western hemlock [Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.], yellow cedar (Thuja plicata Donn ex D. Don.), Sitka spruce [Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.] and shore pine, and an understorey of ericaceous shrubs and herbs. ECM root tip density (tips cm(-3) soil) was significantly greater in the forest than the edge or bog and ECM colonization was significantly different in all three plant communities. The below ground ECM fungal taxa were analyzed using molecular techniques (PCR-RFLP and DNA sequencing). Three ECM fungal taxa, Suillus tomentosus (Kauffman) Singer, Cenococcum geophilum Fr.:Fr, and a Russula species, differed in relative frequency, yet were among the four most frequent in all three plant communities. Although differences in ECM fungal richness were observed across plant communities, unequal sampling of ECM roots due to root density and colonization differences confounded richness comparisons. Using resampling procedures for creating taxon-accumulation curves as a function of sampled ECM roots revealed similarities in cumulative ECM fungal taxa richness across the ecotone.