Abstract
Understanding the effects of changing abiotic conditions on assembly history in wood decay communities is especially important with predicted environmental changes. Interspecific interactions drive community development, so it is important to understand how microclimatic environment affects outcomes of interactions between species from different successional stages in natural substrata. Interactions between eight wood decay fungi were performed in beech (Fagus sylvatica) wood at seven temperatures (12–30 °C), and in soil microcosms and wood that had been pre-colonised for different lengths of time. The hierarchy of combative ability could be altered by changes in temperature: at higher temperatures early secondary colonisers were able to outcompete usually later colonising cord-forming species. Length of pre-colonisation had a species-specific effect on combative ability, probably attributable to biochemical changes rather than the state of decay of the resource. Abiotic variables have clear effects on fungal interactions, underlining the importance of stochastic factors in fungal community succession.
Highlights
Saprotrophic decay fungi dominate primary wood decomposition in temperate woodlands, and are key determinants of carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling (Boddy and Watkinson, 1995; Ha€ttenschwiler et al, 2005; Baldrian and Lindahl, 2011)
The lower temperature optima of cord-forming species concurs with previous studies (Boddy, 1983a; Dowson et al, 1988; Wells and Boddy, 1995; A'Bear et al, 2013), and may indicate an adaptation to more exposed conditions: mycelial cords grow through the litter layer, so cord-formers would need to be able to withstand lower winter temperatures than early secondary colonisers, which would be relatively insulated within wood (Boddy, 1999)
Abiotic variables are important modifiers of the outcome of fungal interactions within wood, and between mycelial cords and fungi already established in wood
Summary
Saprotrophic decay fungi dominate primary wood decomposition in temperate woodlands, and are key determinants of carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling (Boddy and Watkinson, 1995; Ha€ttenschwiler et al, 2005; Baldrian and Lindahl, 2011). Competition between mycelia for territory and the resources within is central to their ecology, and antagonistic interactions occur where there is overlap between the niches of different species or strains (Boddy, 2000). Apart from the very early and very late stages of decomposition, or under high environmental stress, community composition is determined by these antagonistic interactions. There is a general hierarchy of combative ability where primary colonisers are the least combative and late secondary colonisers the most, but these relationships are not always transitive, and certain species may outcompete others in some situations due to their tolerance of specific environmental stresses rather through combative ability (Boddy, 2000; Boddy and Heilmann-Clausen, 2008)
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