skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


Title: The contribution of tropical long-term studies to mycology
Abstract Fungi are arguably the most diverse eukaryotic kingdom of organisms in terms of number of estimated species, trophic and life history strategies, and their functions in ecosystems. However, our knowledge of fungi is limited due to a distributional bias; the vast majority of available data on fungi have been compiled from non-tropical regions. Far less is known about fungi from tropical regions, with the bulk of these data being temporally limited surveys for fungal species diversity. Long-term studies (LTS), or repeated sampling from the same region over extended periods, are necessary to fully capture the extent of species diversity in a region, but LTS of fungi from tropical regions are almost non-existent. In this paper, we discuss the contributions of LTS of fungi in tropical regions to alpha diversity, ecological and functional diversity, biogeography, hypothesis testing, and conservation—with an emphasis on an ongoing tropical LTS in the Pakaraima Mountains of Guyana. We show how these contributions refine our understanding of Fungi. We also show that public data repositories such as NCBI, IUCN, and iNaturalist contain less information on tropical fungi compared to non-tropical fungi, and that these discrepancies are more pronounced in fungi than in plants and animals.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2127290
PAR ID:
10618518
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
IMA Fungus
Date Published:
Journal Name:
IMA Fungus
Volume:
15
Issue:
1
ISSN:
2210-6359
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; ; ; (, Nature)
    Abstract The latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG) dominates global patterns of diversity1,2, but the factors that underlie the LDG remain elusive. Here we use a unique global dataset3to show that vascular plants on oceanic islands exhibit a weakened LDG and explore potential mechanisms for this effect. Our results show that traditional physical drivers of island biogeography4—namely area and isolation—contribute to the difference between island and mainland diversity at a given latitude (that is, the island species deficit), as smaller and more distant islands experience reduced colonization. However, plant species with mutualists are underrepresented on islands, and we find that this plant mutualism filter explains more variation in the island species deficit than abiotic factors. In particular, plant species that require animal pollinators or microbial mutualists such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi contribute disproportionately to the island species deficit near the Equator, with contributions decreasing with distance from the Equator. Plant mutualist filters on species richness are particularly strong at low absolute latitudes where mainland richness is highest, weakening the LDG of oceanic islands. These results provide empirical evidence that mutualisms, habitat heterogeneity and dispersal are key to the maintenance of high tropical plant diversity and mediate the biogeographic patterns of plant diversity on Earth. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; et al (, Nature)
    Abstract Fungi are among the most diverse and ecologically important kingdoms in life. However, the distributional ranges of fungi remain largely unknown as do the ecological mechanisms that shape their distributions1,2. To provide an integrated view of the spatial and seasonal dynamics of fungi, we implemented a globally distributed standardized aerial sampling of fungal spores3. The vast majority of operational taxonomic units were detected within only one climatic zone, and the spatiotemporal patterns of species richness and community composition were mostly explained by annual mean air temperature. Tropical regions hosted the highest fungal diversity except for lichenized, ericoid mycorrhizal and ectomycorrhizal fungi, which reached their peak diversity in temperate regions. The sensitivity in climatic responses was associated with phylogenetic relatedness, suggesting that large-scale distributions of some fungal groups are partially constrained by their ancestral niche. There was a strong phylogenetic signal in seasonal sensitivity, suggesting that some groups of fungi have retained their ancestral trait of sporulating for only a short period. Overall, our results show that the hyperdiverse kingdom of fungi follows globally highly predictable spatial and temporal dynamics, with seasonality in both species richness and community composition increasing with latitude. Our study reports patterns resembling those described for other major groups of organisms, thus making a major contribution to the long-standing debate on whether organisms with a microbial lifestyle follow the global biodiversity paradigms known for macroorganisms4,5. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; et al (, Global Ecology and Biogeography)
    ABSTRACT AimStudies assessing large‐scale patterns of microbial diversity have predominantly focused on free‐living microorganisms, often failing to link observed patterns to established theories regarding the maintenance of global diversity patterns. We aimed to determine whether foliar fungi on two closely related grass hosts—Heteropogon contortusandThemeda triandra—display a commonly observed latitudinal gradient in species richness and determine whether host identity, energy (temperature and precipitation), climate seasonality, fire frequency and grass evolutionary history drive the observed patterns in species richness and composition. LocationPaleotropical. Time PeriodContemporary. Major Taxa StudiedFoliar fungi. MethodsFoliar fungal diversity was quantified from 201 leaf samples ofT. triandraandH. contortuscollected across the distributional range of these species. Mixed effects models were used to quantify patterns of diversity and their correlates among and within continents. Ordinations were used to assess drivers of composition. ResultsFoliar fungi displayed consistent latitudinal diversity gradients in richness. Energy was a strong driver of richness at inter‐continental and continental scales, while other factors had inconsistent impacts on richness among scales, hosts and guilds. Globally, richness was higher in regions of higher growing season temperatures and where hosts were present for longer periods. Composition was primarily structured by geographic region at the global scale, indicating that distance was a dominant driver of community composition. Within Australia, temperature and rainfall seasonality and the amount of growing season rainfall, were the dominant drivers of both richness and composition. Main ConclusionsWe find some support for the idea that foliar fungal species diversity is governed by the same factors as many macro‐organisms (energy availability and evolutionary history) at inter‐continental scales, but also that fungal diversity and composition in the highly seasonal continent of Australia were driven by factors that shape tropical grassy ecosystems, namely climate seasonality and fire. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; ; ; ; (, Global Ecology and Biogeography)
    ABSTRACT AimAll bees depend on angiosperms for survival, while many angiosperms depend on bees for reproduction. However, bee and flowering plant species richness do not peak in the same geographical regions of the world, suggesting that the flora in regions where bees are not as diverse, such as the tropics, may be relatively less bee‐dependent. We test this assumption by analysing whether local relative bee diversity can predict the proportion of angiosperm species that attract bees (i.e., “bee flowers”). LocationThe Americas. Time PeriodPresent. Major Taxa StudiedBees and angiosperms. MethodsWe map the proportion of bees to angiosperm species using recently available datasets of geographic distribution for both taxa. We then combine data from surveys on pollination systems for 56 floristic communities to estimate the proportion of angiosperm species with bee flowers in different regions. Finally, we test whether the proportion of bee flowers in a community can be predicted by a combination of relative bee species richness and abiotic environmental variables. ResultsBroad distribution maps show that the relative richness of bees in relation to angiosperms decreases in tropical areas; however, there is no evidence that tropical floristic communities are less dependent on bees. Interestingly, the proportion of angiosperm species with bee flowers was almost always found to be around 50% across biomes, with some variation depending on the habitat type and method of data collection. Main ConclusionsOur results suggest that plant communities can be highly bee‐dependent even where bees are relatively less diverse. While lower species richness does not mean lower abundance, and fewer bee species of specific life histories can still provide adequate pollination supply for a large number of angiosperm species, this pattern may impact how bee flowers interact with bees in different areas, and consequently how bees and bee flower specialisations have evolved over time. 
    more » « less
  5. ; (, Molecular Ecology)
    ABSTRACT Ectomycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungi respond differently to changing edaphic conditions caused by atmospheric deposition. Within each guild, responses can vary significantly, reflecting the diversity of species and their specific adaptations to environmental changes. Metal contaminants are often deposited onto earth's surface through atmospheric deposition, yet few studies have assessed the relationship between soil metal contamination and fungal communities. The goal of this study was to understand how soil metal contamination and other edaphic factors vary across the spruce‐fir ecosystem in the Southern Appalachians and influence fungal diversity and function. Here, we characterize soil fungal communities using high‐throughput sequencing of the ITS2 gene region and found that higher soil lead (Pb) concentrations were associated with lower fungal diversity. Ectomycorrhizal fungi were less diverse (specifically hydrophilic ectomycorrhizal functional types) at plots with elevated soil Pb concentrations, while saprotrophic fungi were less diverse at plots with elevated soil carbon:nitrogen ratios. Fungal community composition was significantly influenced by pH, Pb, and spatial factors. This study identifies important relationships between fungal diversity and soil Pb concentrations and indicates variable responses of genera within well‐defined ecological guilds. Our work highlights the need to characterize poorly understood taxonomic groups of fungi and their function prior to further environmental degradation. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Text Encoded Conversion
  • XML
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email