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What determines A lnus ‐associated ectomycorrhizal community diversity and specificity? A comparison of host and habitat effects at a regional scale
Author(s) -
Roy Mélanie,
Rochet Juliette,
Manzi Sophie,
Jargeat Patricia,
Gryta Hervé,
Moreau PierreArthur,
Gardes Monique
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1111/nph.12212
Subject(s) - biology , species richness , gamma diversity , ecology , species evenness , subgenus , host (biology) , alpha diversity , habitat , beta diversity , biodiversity , species diversity , genus
Summary Global‐scale analyses of ectomycorrhizal ( ECM ) fungi communities emphasize host plant families as the main drivers of diversity. This study aims to test, on A lnus – ECM communities, which fungi are said to be ‘host‐specific’, to what extent host species, habitat and distance explain their alpha and beta diversity variations, and their specificity. In F rance, ECM communities associated with two subgenera and five species of A lnus , were sampled on 165 trees from 39 lowland to subalpine sites. In all, 1178 internal transcribed spacer ( ITS ) sequences of ECM fungi clustered in 86 m olecular o perational t axonomic u nits ( MOTU s). The species richness was low but still variable, and the evenness of communities was lower on organic soils and in C orsica. Similarity between communities was influenced both by host, soil parameters, altitude and longitude, but not by climate and distance. A large majority of ‘specific’ fungi were shared between host species within a subgenus, and showed habitat preferences within the subgenus distribution range. Our study confirms that A lnus ECM communities are low in diversity, highly conserved at a regional scale, and partly shared between congeneric host species. A large part of alpha and beta diversity variations remained unexplained, and other processes may shape these communities.