Richness and diversity of conidial fungi associated with plant debris in three enclaves of Atlantic Forest in the Caatinga biome of Brazil

Abstract

Background and aims – A study of richness and diversity of conidial fungi associated with plant debris was conducted in three Atlantic Forest enclaves in the Caatinga biome: Serra da Jibóia-BA (SJ), Serra da Ibiapaba-CE (SI) and Brejo Paraibano-PB (BP). Methods – The plant debris samples included leaves, twigs and barks and were washed in running water, incubated in moist chambers and analyzed for 40 days under a stereomicroscope. These reproductive structures were transferred to slides containing PVL resin and identified with specialized literature. Key results – The richness and diversity were similar in the three enclaves of interest. Cluster analysis using the Morisita similarity index indicated a group formed by fungal communities of SI and BP and another with SJ. Of these substrates, the leaves had the greatest richness and the bark samples had the greatest diversity, but these differences were not significant. Multivariate analysis via NMDS revealed differences in the fungal community composition with respect to the substrate and area, but the similarity analysis (ANOSIM) indicated that the differences were significant only with respect to the substrate.Conclusions – The survey data shows the great richness and diversity of conidial fungi in the studied areas. Substrate was the most determinant factor for the distribution of fungi when compared with area.