Abstract
Fungi playvital roles in thedecomposition of dead- wood due to their secretion of various enzymes that break down plant cell-wall complexes. The compositions of wood- inhabiting fungal (WIF) communities change over the course of the decomposition process as the remaining mass of wood decreases and both abiotic and biotic conditions of the wood significantly change. It is currently not resolved which substrate-related factors govern these changes in WIF com- munities and whether such changes influence the deadwood decomposition rate. Here we report a study on fungal richness and community structure in deadwood of Norway spruce and European beech in temperate forest ecosystems using 454 pyrosequencing. Our aims were to disentangle the factors that correspondtoWIF community composition and to investigate the links between fungal richness, taxonomically-resolved fungal identity, and microbial-mediated ecosystem functions and processes by analyzing physico-chemical wood proper- ties, lignin-modifying enzyme activities and wood decompo- sition rates. Unlike fungal richness, we found significant dif- ferences in community structure between deadwood of differ- ent tree species. The composition of WIF communities was related to the physico-chemical properties of the deadwood substrates. Decomposition rates and the activities of lignin- modifying enzymes were controlled by the succession of the fungal communities and competition scenarios rather than fungal OTU richness. Our results provide further insights into links between fungal community structure and microbial- mediated ecosystem functions and processes.
Highlights
Deadwood is one of the most important organic carbon pools in forest ecosystems (Floudas et al 2012)
Our aims were to disentangle the factors that correspond to woodinhabiting fungal (WIF) community composition and to investigate the links between fungal richness, taxonomically-resolved fungal identity, and microbial-mediated ecosystem functions and processes by analyzing physico-chemical wood properties, lignin-modifying enzyme activities and wood decomposition rates
We examined the sharedness of WIF communities between tree species at species and genus level (Fig. S4ab)
Summary
Deadwood is one of the most important organic carbon pools in forest ecosystems (Floudas et al 2012). Microorganisms, mainly fungi, play crucial roles in forest ecosystems. Their diversity and enzymatic activities constitute the basis for the food-webs in wood and litter (Pollierer et al 2012; Stokland et al 2012). Brown-rot fungi do not secrete these enzymes. Instead, they oxidize lignin via a mechanism relying on hydroxyl radicals, which are generated via the Fenton reaction (Hatakka and Hammel 2011; Jellison et al 1997; Martinez et al 2005)
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