Factors affecting microfungal diversity

Species diversity of microfungal communities in decaying oak leaves was analyzed based on the hyphal growth rates of the component species. Dominant species of a low-diversity community had faster hyphal growth rates, while dominant species of a high-diversity community had slower growth rates. These results implies that when the faster growing species became dominant, these species exhausted resources rapidly during the initial stage of fungal colonization. This exclusive utilization of resources made it impossible for other species to invade the substratum and led to a low diversity. Hyphal growth rates played an important role in determining the diversity of microfungal communities.