Species richness of coprophilous ascomycetes in relation to variable food intake by herbivores

• The aim of this study was to study species richness and species composition of coprophilous ascomycetes in borcal forest. Dung was sampled at three localities and of three herbivores, moose (Alces alces), mountain hare (Lepus timidus), and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus). Species richness differed significantly among dung types and we also found a significant effect of the interaction between locality and dung type on the mean number of species. The highest species richness was found on roe deer dung. While moose did not differ from mountain hare. There was a strong positive relationship between the total number of ascomycete species and the number of plant species foraged by the three herbivores. We believe that food choice is one important factor influencing the species richness of coprophilous ascomycetes, and that some species are more associated with habitat and food choice of the herbivore, rather than a specific dung type/animal species. The composition of species on the different dung types is also discussed. Our results suggests that the coprophilous mycota in the boreal forest is poorly known, we found 47 species in total, four species were undescribed. I was new to Sweden, 24 species were new records for the province, and we made a total of 22 new substrate records.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

ascomycota

dung inhabiting fungi

fungal ecology

species diversity

Biology

Biologi

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