Abstract
Little is known of how fungal distribution ranges vary with elevation. We studied fungal diversity and community composition from 740 to 2940 m above sea level on Mt. Norikura, Japan, sequencing the ITS2 region. There was a clear trend, repeated across each of the fungal phyla (Basidiomycota, Ascomycota, Zygomycota, Chytridomycota and Glomeromycota), and across the whole fungal community combined, towards an increased elevational range of higher elevation OTUs, conforming to the elevational Rapoport pattern. It appears that fungi from higher elevation environments are more generalized ecologically, at least in terms of climate-related gradients. These findings add to the picture from latitudinal studies of fungal ranges, which also suggest that the classic Rapoport Rule (broader ranges at higher latitudes) applies on a geographical scale. However, there was no mid-elevation maximum in diversity in any of the phyla studied, and different diversity trends for the different phyla, when different diversity indices were used. In terms of functional guilds, on Norikura there were trends towards increased saprotrophism (Zygomycota), symbiotrophism (Basidiomycota), symbiotrophism and saprotrophism (Ascomycota) and pathotrophism (Chytridiomycota) with elevation. The causes of each of these trends require further investigation from an ecological and evolutionary viewpoint.
Highlights
Elevational patterns of organisms have long been a major focus in ecology[1,2,3,4,5,6]
None of the previously published studies on elevational trends in fungal subgroups has covered the subject of Rapoport’s elevation (RE)
A total of 2,793,205 quality fungal sequences with an average length of 333 base pairs were obtained from the 55 samples, which were classified into 42,732 operational taxonomic units (OTU’s) at a 99% similarity level
Summary
Elevational patterns of organisms have long been a major focus in ecology[1,2,3,4,5,6]. Many studies – of various types of organism - have found mid-elevational maximum in diversity, which has been attributed to various causes[32]. We were interested in studying whether mid-elevation EcM diversity maxima would be found across the fungal community on Mt. Norikura. Mt. Norikura has a very similar climate to Mt. Fuji, the two mountains being only about 240 Km apart, and of similar elevation. The two mountains being only about 240 Km apart, and of similar elevation They differ in terms of geological history, Norikura is composed of andesitic rocks in contrast to Fuji’s basaltic origin. Given the similar set of climatic circumstances but different history of these two mountains, it is of interest to test whether similar diversity patterns occur
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