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Research article2020Peer reviewed

Carbon content and pH as important drivers of fungal community structure in three Amazon forests

Vasco-Palacios, Aida M.; Bahram, Mohammad; Boekhout, Teun; Tedersoo, Leho

Abstract

Background and aims Amazonia comprises a mosaic of ecosystems that harbor high biodiversity. Knowledge about fungal diversity and ecology in this region remains very limited. Here, we examine soil fungal communities in forests of the Colombian Amazonia and their relationship to important edaphic variables. Methods Fungal communities were studied interra-firmeforests dominated by arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) trees,terra-firmeforests with the ectomycorrhizal (EcM) treePseudomonotes tropenbosii(Dipterocarpaceae), and white sand forests (WSF) with the EcM host plant generaDicymbeandAldina(Fabaceae). Fungal community composition was determined through 454-pyrosequencing of the ITS2 region of ribosomal DNA. We established the impact of the type of forest and edaphic parameters in structuring the fungal communities. Results We found a high diversity of fungi with 2,507 OTUs occurring in the soil samples studied. Carbon content and pH were the main edaphic factors contributing to structure the fungal community across all forests. Fungal community composition differs amongterra-firmeplots and WSF, while it was similar among AM and EcM-dominated areas interra-firme. Our results revealed an important EcM fungal diversity interra-firmeAM-forests, where some EcM plants such as the ones in the generaCoccolobaandNeeaoccur scattered within an AM-matrix. Conclusions This is a first approximation to understand the ecology of soil fungal communities in forests of the Colombian Amazonia. We found that fungal soil communities have a spatial variation related to forest type (terra-firmeand WSF), soil pH, and soil carbon content. Due to the strong correlation between vegetation and soil fertility in Amazonia, it is difficult to understand the effects of those factors to the fungal communities.

Keywords

Dipterocarpaceae; Ectomycorrhizal fungi; Fabaceae; Microbial ecology; Tropical forests; Fungal diversity

Published in

Plant and Soil
2020, Volume: 450, number: 1-2, pages: 111-131
Publisher: SPRINGER

    UKÄ Subject classification

    Ecology

    Publication identifier

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-019-04218-3

    Permanent link to this page (URI)

    https://res.slu.se/id/publ/106900