Invasion biology of Australian ectomycorrhizal fungi introduced with eucalypt plantations into the Iberian Peninsula |
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Authors: | Jesús Díez |
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Institution: | (1) Departamento Biología Vegetal, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares (Madrid), 28871, Spain |
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Abstract: | In the last two centuries, several species of Australian eucalypts (e.g. Eucalyptus camaldulensis and E.␣globulus) were introduced into the Iberian Peninsula for the production of paper pulp. The effects of the introduction of exotic root-symbitotic
fungi together with the eucalypts have received little attention. During the past years, we have investigated the biology
of ectomycorrhizal fungi in eucalypt plantations in the Iberian Peninsula. In the plantations studied, we found fruit bodies
of several Australian ectomycorrhizal fungi and identified their ectomycorrhizas with DNA molecular markers. The most frequent
species were Hydnangium carneum, Hymenogaster albus, Hysterangium inflatum, Labyrinthomyces donkii, Laccaria fraterna, Pisolithus albus, P. microcarpus, Rhulandiella berolinensis, Setchelliogaster rheophyllus, and Tricholoma eucalypticum. These fungi were likely brought from Australia together with the eucalypts, and they seem to have facilitated the establishment
of eucalypt plantations and their naturalization. The dispersion of Australian fungal propagules may be facilitating the spread
of eucalypts along watercourses in semiarid regions increasing the water lost. Because ectomycorrhizal fungi are obligate
symbionts, their capacity to persist after eradication of eucalypt stands, and/or to extend beyond forest plantations, would
rely on the possibility to find compatible native host trees, and to outcompete the native ectomycorrhizal fungi. Here we
illustrate the case of the Australasian species Laccaria fraterna, which fruits in Mediterranean shrublands of ectomycorrhizal species of Cistus (rockroses). We need to know which other Australasian fungi extend to the native ecosystems, if we are to predict environmental␣risks
associated with the introduction of Australasian ectomycorrhizal fungi into the Iberian Peninsula.
This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. |
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Keywords: | ectomycorrhizal fungi Eucalyptus exotic fungi forest plantations invasion ecology |
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