Substrate quality drives fungal necromass decay and decomposer community structure under contrasting vegetation types
(2020) In Journal of Ecology 108(5). p.1845-1859- Abstract
Fungal mycelium is increasingly recognized as a central component of soil biogeochemical cycling, yet our current understanding of the ecological controls on fungal necromass decomposition is limited to single sites and vegetation types. By deploying common fungal necromass substrates in a temperate oak savanna and hardwood forest in the midwestern USA, we assessed the generality of the rate at which high- and low-quality fungal necromass decomposes; further, we investigated how the decomposer ‘necrobiome’ varies both across and within sites under vegetation types dominated by either arbuscular or ectomycorrhizal plants. The effects of necromass quality on decay rate were robust to site and vegetation type differences, with high-quality... (More)
Fungal mycelium is increasingly recognized as a central component of soil biogeochemical cycling, yet our current understanding of the ecological controls on fungal necromass decomposition is limited to single sites and vegetation types. By deploying common fungal necromass substrates in a temperate oak savanna and hardwood forest in the midwestern USA, we assessed the generality of the rate at which high- and low-quality fungal necromass decomposes; further, we investigated how the decomposer ‘necrobiome’ varies both across and within sites under vegetation types dominated by either arbuscular or ectomycorrhizal plants. The effects of necromass quality on decay rate were robust to site and vegetation type differences, with high-quality fungal necromass decomposing, on average, 2.5 times faster during the initial stages of decay. Across vegetation types, bacterial and fungal communities present on decaying necromass differed from bulk soil microbial communities and were influenced by necromass quality. Moulds, yeasts and copiotrophic bacteria consistently dominated the necrobiome of high-quality fungal substrates. Synthesis. We show that regardless of differences in decay environments, high-quality fungal substrates decompose faster and support different types of decomposer micro-organisms when compared with low-quality fungal tissues. These findings help to refine our theoretical understanding of the dominant factors affecting fast cycling components of soil organic matter and the microbial communities associated with rapid decay.
(Less)
- author
- Beidler, Katilyn V. ; Phillips, Richard P. ; Andrews, Erin ; Maillard, François LU ; Mushinski, Ryan M. and Kennedy, Peter G.
- publishing date
- 2020-09-01
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- keywords
- fungal hyphae, fungal mycelium, melanin, mycorrhizal type, necrobiome, oak savanna, temperate forest
- in
- Journal of Ecology
- volume
- 108
- issue
- 5
- pages
- 15 pages
- publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85082944297
- ISSN
- 0022-0477
- DOI
- 10.1111/1365-2745.13385
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © 2020 British Ecological Society
- id
- ca071155-6bb9-4b27-a973-b6dd30386d27
- date added to LUP
- 2024-06-02 15:02:32
- date last changed
- 2024-06-05 11:45:36
@article{ca071155-6bb9-4b27-a973-b6dd30386d27,
abstract = {{<p>Fungal mycelium is increasingly recognized as a central component of soil biogeochemical cycling, yet our current understanding of the ecological controls on fungal necromass decomposition is limited to single sites and vegetation types. By deploying common fungal necromass substrates in a temperate oak savanna and hardwood forest in the midwestern USA, we assessed the generality of the rate at which high- and low-quality fungal necromass decomposes; further, we investigated how the decomposer ‘necrobiome’ varies both across and within sites under vegetation types dominated by either arbuscular or ectomycorrhizal plants. The effects of necromass quality on decay rate were robust to site and vegetation type differences, with high-quality fungal necromass decomposing, on average, 2.5 times faster during the initial stages of decay. Across vegetation types, bacterial and fungal communities present on decaying necromass differed from bulk soil microbial communities and were influenced by necromass quality. Moulds, yeasts and copiotrophic bacteria consistently dominated the necrobiome of high-quality fungal substrates. Synthesis. We show that regardless of differences in decay environments, high-quality fungal substrates decompose faster and support different types of decomposer micro-organisms when compared with low-quality fungal tissues. These findings help to refine our theoretical understanding of the dominant factors affecting fast cycling components of soil organic matter and the microbial communities associated with rapid decay.</p>}},
author = {{Beidler, Katilyn V. and Phillips, Richard P. and Andrews, Erin and Maillard, François and Mushinski, Ryan M. and Kennedy, Peter G.}},
issn = {{0022-0477}},
keywords = {{fungal hyphae; fungal mycelium; melanin; mycorrhizal type; necrobiome; oak savanna; temperate forest}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{09}},
number = {{5}},
pages = {{1845--1859}},
publisher = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
series = {{Journal of Ecology}},
title = {{Substrate quality drives fungal necromass decay and decomposer community structure under contrasting vegetation types}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13385}},
doi = {{10.1111/1365-2745.13385}},
volume = {{108}},
year = {{2020}},
}