Ecology and diversity of leaf litter fungi during early-stage decomposition in a seasonally dry tropical forest |
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| Institution: | 1. Vivekananda Institute of Tropical Mycology (VINSTROM), Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith, Chennai 600004, India;2. PG & Research Department of Botany, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College, Chennai 600004, India;1. Department of Earth Sciences, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA;2. Biology Department, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA;1. School of Life Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China;2. Guangxi Institute of Botany, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guilin 541006, China;1. School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, United Kingdom;2. Faculty of Engineering, University of Bristol, Queen''s Building, Bristol BS8 1TR, United Kingdom;3. Ecosulis, The Rickyard, Newton St Loe, Bath BA2 9BT, United Kingdom;4. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA;1. Centre for Functional Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456, Coimbra, Portugal;2. IMAR – Institute of Marine Research, MARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal;1. State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China;2. Qinghai Academy of Animal and Veterinary Medicine, Xining 810016, China;3. Management and Production of Renewable Resources, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Itäinen Pitkäkatu 3, Turku 20520, Finland |
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| Abstract: | Leaf litter samples of 12 dicotyledonous tree species (belonging to eight families) growing in a dry tropical forest and in early stages of decomposition were studied for the presence of litter fungi. Equal-sized segments of the leaves incubated in moist chambers were observed every day for 30 d for the presence of fungi. Invariably, the fungal assemblage on the litter of each tree species was dominated by a given fungal species. The diversity of fungi present in the litter varied with the tree species although many species of fungi occurred in the litter of all 12 species. A Pestalotiopsis species dominated the litter fungal assemblage of five trees and was common in the litter of all tree species. The present study and earlier studies from our lab indicate that fungi have evolved traits such as thermotolerant spores, ability to utilize toxic furaldehydes, ability to produce cell wall destructuring enzymes and an endophyte-litter fungus life style to survive and establish themselves in fire-prone forests such as the one studied here. This study shows that in the dry tropical forest, the leaf litter fungal assemblage is governed more by the environment than by the plant species. |
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| Keywords: | Dry tropical forest Forest fire Fungal diversity Plant biomass Saprotrophic fungi |
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