Open AccessDiversity of fungi associated with hair roots of ericaceous plants is affected by land use
Author(s) -
Hazard Christina,
Gosling Paul,
Mitchell Derek T.,
Doohan Fiona M.,
Bending Gary D.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
fems microbiology ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.377
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1574-6941
pISSN - 0168-6496
DOI - 10.1111/1574-6941.12247
Subject(s) - biology , calluna , bog , fungal diversity , botany , ericaceae , ecology , internal transcribed spacer , plant community , peat , ecological succession , biochemistry , gene , ribosomal rna
Culture‐independent molecular studies have provided new insights into the diversity of fungi associating with ericaceous plant roots. However, there is little understanding of the distribution of these fungi across landscapes, or the effects of environmental heterogeneity on ericoid mycorrhizal ( ERM ) fungal diversity and distribution. Terminal‐restriction fragment length polymorphism and selective sequence analyses of the internal transcribed spacer regions of r DNA were used to infer fungal diversity of bait V accinium macrocarpon grown in soils from nine peatland sites in I reland, representing three different land uses (bog, rough grazing and forest plantation) and the fungal communities of field‐collected C alluna vulgaris for five of these nine sites. A diverse range of potential ERM fungi were found, and the sampling approach significantly affected the diversity of the fungal community. Despite significant site groupings of the fungal communities associated with V . macrocarpon and C . vulgaris , fungal communities were significantly dissimilar between sites with different land uses. Soil nitrogen content significantly explained 52% of the variation in the V . macrocarpon fungal communities. Evidence suggests that environmental heterogeneity has a role in shaping ERM fungal community composition at the landscape scale.