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Plant-symbiotic fungal diversity tracks variation in vegetation and the abiotic environment along an extended elevational gradient in the Himalayas.
Hiiesalu, Inga; Schweichhart, Johannes; Angel, Roey; Davison, John; Dolezal, Jiri; Kopecký, Martin; Macek, Martin; Rehakova, Klára.
Affiliation
  • Hiiesalu I; Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, J. Liivi 2, 50 409 Tartu, Estonia.
  • Schweichhart J; Biology Centre of the CAS, Institute of Soil Biology and Biochemistry, Na Sádkách 702/7 , 370 05 Ceské Budejovice, Czech Republic.
  • Angel R; Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branisovská 1160/31, 370 05 Ceské Budejovice, Czech Republic.
  • Davison J; Biology Centre of the CAS, Institute of Soil Biology and Biochemistry, Na Sádkách 702/7 , 370 05 Ceské Budejovice, Czech Republic.
  • Dolezal J; Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, J. Liivi 2, 50 409 Tartu, Estonia.
  • Kopecký M; Institute of Botany of the CAS, Dukelská 135, 379 01 Trebon, Czech Republic.
  • Macek M; Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branisovská 1160/31, 370 05 Ceské Budejovice, Czech Republic.
  • Rehakova K; Institute of Botany of the CAS, Zámek 1, 252 43 Pruhonice, Czech Republic.
FEMS Microbiol Ecol ; 99(9)2023 08 22.
Article in En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37562924
Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi can benefit plants under environmental stress, and influence plant adaptation to warmer climates. However, very little is known about the ecology of these fungi in alpine environments. We sampled plant roots along a large fraction (1941-6150 m asl (above sea level)) of the longest terrestrial elevational gradient on Earth and used DNA metabarcoding to identify AM fungi. We hypothesized that AM fungal alpha and beta diversity decreases with increasing elevation, and that different vegetation types comprise dissimilar communities, with cultured (putatively ruderal) taxa increasingly represented at high elevations. We found that the alpha diversity of AM fungal communities declined linearly with elevation, whereas within-site taxon turnover (beta diversity) was unimodally related to elevation. The composition of AM fungal communities differed between vegetation types and was influenced by elevation, mean annual temperature, and precipitation. In general, Glomeraceae taxa dominated at all elevations and vegetation types; however, higher elevations were associated with increased presence of Acaulosporaceae, Ambisporaceae, and Claroideoglomeraceae. Contrary to our expectation, the proportion of cultured AM fungal taxa in communities decreased with elevation. These results suggest that, in this system, climate-induced shifts in habitat conditions may facilitate more diverse AM fungal communities at higher elevations but could also favour ruderal taxa.
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Full text: 1 Collection: 01-internacional Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Mycorrhizae / Glomeromycota Language: En Journal: FEMS Microbiol Ecol Year: 2023 Document type: Article Affiliation country: Estonia Country of publication: United kingdom

Full text: 1 Collection: 01-internacional Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Mycorrhizae / Glomeromycota Language: En Journal: FEMS Microbiol Ecol Year: 2023 Document type: Article Affiliation country: Estonia Country of publication: United kingdom