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The rich and the sensitive: diverse fungal communities change functionally with the warming Arctic
Author(s) -
Jumpponen Ari,
Brown Shawn P.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
molecular ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.619
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1365-294X
pISSN - 0962-1083
DOI - 10.1111/mec.12805
Subject(s) - biology , arctic , ecology , climate change , global warming , environmental change , the arctic , evolutionary biology , oceanography , geology
Fungi are very abundant and functionally pivotal in Arctic terrestrial ecosystems. Yet, our understanding of their community composition, diversity and particularly their environmental drivers is superficial at the very best. In this issue of Molecular Ecology , Timling et al . ([Timling I, 2014]) describe perhaps one of the most comprehensive and geographically ambitious molecular studies on Arctic fungal communities to date. The results highlight the potential sensitivity of the fungal communities to plant communities, environmental conditions and therefore to environmental change. Thus, these studies lay a foundation to educated speculation on the fungal community migration northwards as a result of predicted climate change.