Soil fungal communities of grasslands are environmentally structured at a regional scale in the Alps
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Date
2014
Authors
Pellissier, L.
Niculita‐Hirzel, H.
Dubuis, A.
Pagni, M.
Guex, N.
Ndiribe, C.
Salamin, N.
Xenarios, I.
Goudet, J.
Sanders, I. R.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Abstract
Studying patterns of species distributions along elevation gradients is frequently used
to identify the primary factors that determine the distribution, diversity and assembly
of species. However, despite their crucial role in ecosystem functioning, our understanding
of the distribution of below-ground fungi is still limited, calling for more
comprehensive studies of fungal biogeography along environmental gradients at various
scales (from regional to global). Here, we investigated the richness of taxa of soil
fungi and their phylogenetic diversity across a wide range of grassland types along a
2800 m elevation gradient at a large number of sites (213), stratified across a region of
the Western Swiss Alps (700 km2). We used 454 pyrosequencing to obtain fungal
sequences that were clustered into operational taxonomic units (OTUs). The OTU
diversity–area relationship revealed uneven distribution of fungal taxa across the study
area (i.e. not all taxa are everywhere) and fine-scale spatial clustering. Fungal richness
and phylogenetic diversity were found to be higher in lower temperatures and higher
moisture conditions. Climatic and soil characteristics as well as plant community
composition were related to OTU alpha, beta and phylogenetic diversity, with distinct
fungal lineages suggesting distinct ecological tolerances. Soil fungi, thus, show lineage-
specific biogeographic patterns, even at a regional scale, and follow environmental
determinism, mediated by interactions with plants.
Description
Keywords
alpine grassland, elevation gradient, environmental gradients, phylogenetic diversity, plant–fungi interactions, soil fungal community, 454 pyrosequencing
Citation
Pellissier, L., Niculita‐Hirzel, H., Dubuis, A., Pagni, M., Guex, N., Ndiribe, C., Salamin, N., Xenarios, I., Goudet, J., Sanders, I.R. and Guisan, A., 2014. Soil fungal communities of grasslands are environmentally structured at a regional scale in the Alps. Molecular ecology, 23(17), pp.4274-4290.