Links between plant and fungal communities across a deforestation chronosequence in the Amazon rainforest |
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| Authors: | Rebecca C Mueller Fabiana S Paula Babur S Mirza Jorge LM Rodrigues Klaus Nüsslein Brendan JM Bohannan |
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| Institution: | 1.Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA;2.Institute of Oceanography, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil;3.Department of Biology, University of Texas, Arlington, TX, USA;4.Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA |
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| Abstract: | Understanding the interactions among microbial communities, plant communities and soil properties following deforestation could provide insights into the long-term effects of land-use change on ecosystem functions, and may help identify approaches that promote the recovery of degraded sites. We combined high-throughput sequencing of fungal rDNA and molecular barcoding of plant roots to estimate fungal and plant community composition in soil sampled across a chronosequence of deforestation. We found significant effects of land-use change on fungal community composition, which was more closely correlated to plant community composition than to changes in soil properties or geographic distance, providing evidence for strong links between above- and below-ground communities in tropical forests. |
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| Keywords: | beta diversity land-use change tropical biodiversity |
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