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DISTRIBUTION OF FUNGI IN EARLY STAGES OF SUCCESSION IN INDIANA DUNE SAND
Author(s) -
Wohlrab Gisela,
Tuveson R. W.
Publication year - 1965
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.1002/j.1537-2197.1965.tb07284.x
Subject(s) - andropogon , flora (microbiology) , biology , ecological succession , ecology , population , sand dune stabilization , botany , paleontology , demography , sociology , bacteria
The most common pattern of succession in the most recently active dunes along the southern shore of Lake Michigan is the formation and stabilization of dunes by marram grass, Ammophila breviligulata , the decline of this population after stabilization and its eventual replacement by little bluestem grass, Andropogon scoparius var. septentrionalis . The previously reported distribution of fungi from the sand at 15 cm below the surface in two adjacent communities which represent these stages has been confirmed and the generality of the distribution established for other similar communities of this region and the Warren Dunes State Park in southwestern Michigan. A characteristic fungal flora was isolated from the sand of the Andropogon communities, and 5 fungal species were found to be part of the flora in every one of the communities investigated. No such characteristic flora could be detected in the Ammophila communities. Monthly samples indicated no seasonal variations in the numbers and composition of the fungal flora. The presence of a characteristic fungal flora in the Andropogon communities and its absence in the Ammophila communities indicates a successional trend from a harsh, unstable environment, low in available mineral and organic matter content, to one more stable and suitable for fungal growth.