Both ectomycorrhizal tree diversity and soil characteristics structure ectomycorrhizal mushroom communities, and production in Sudanian savanna woodlands

• Ectomycorrhiza (ECM) are a symbiosis between plant and fungi where the plant get nutrients and other benefits from the fungi while the fungi get energy rich carbon compounds from the plant.Many ECM fungi form fleshy fruitbodies, including many choice edible mushrooms.Sudanian savanna woodlands are a tropical ecosystem that has a large proportion of ECM trees, but is under severe threat due to human activities.Based on three mushroom seasons of biweekly frutingbody collection we analyze the environmental factors driving the structure of the ECM community, including: composition, diversity, richness and biomass production.As wild edible mushrooms are an important food supplement in the region, we also analyzed the community structure of local choice edibles specifically.Different types of factors have been shown to influence different systems so we consequently take a comprehensive approach to what environmental factors are investigated, including ECM tree community structure, microclimate, and soil characteristics.We find that the spatial variation in ECM fungal community structure within our study area is larger than the variation in ECM fungal community structure of the study area between years.The richness of ECM host trees influenced all aspects of the spatial community structure, with a positive effect on diversity, richness, and biomass production.Microclimate also had an affect on all aspects of the community structure, but the relative importance of soil temperature and soil moisture varied.Soil characteristics were the strongest correlates of species diversity and richness, as well as biomass production, with soil nitrogen levels found to have a negative effect while phosphorus had a positive effect.Soil characteristicss were not found to be important to species composition, but this may be due to lack of statistical power, since the sampling size was lower for these factors than the others.Despite our comprehensive measurements, most of the spatial variation was not explained by any of the included factors.This variation may be due to unmeasured environmental, individual, or population level factors.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Ekologi (hsv//swe)

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

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