Abstract
Assessment of the costs and benefits of dispersal is central to understanding species' life-history strategies as well as explaining and predicting spatial population dynamics in the changing world. While mortality during active movement has received much attention, few have studied the costs of passive movement such as the airborne transport of fungal spores. Here, we examine the potential of extreme environmental conditions to cause dispersal mortality in wood-decay fungi. These fungi play a key role as decomposers and habitat creators in forest ecosystems and the populations of many species have declined due to habitat loss and fragmentation. We measured the effect of simulated solar radiation (including ultraviolet A and B) and freezing at −25°C on the spore germinability of 17 species. Both treatments but especially sunlight markedly reduced spore germinability in most species, and species with thin-walled spores were particularly light sensitive. Extrapolating the species' laboratory responses to natural irradiance conditions, we predict that sunlight is a relevant source of dispersal mortality at least at larger spatial scales. In addition, we found a positive effect of spore size on spore germinability, suggesting a trade-off between dispersal distance and establishment. We conclude that freezing and particularly sunlight can be important sources of dispersal mortality in wood-decay fungi which can make it difficult for some species to colonize isolated habitat patches and habitat edges.
Highlights
Dispersal is necessary for the long-term persistence of lineages of organisms, but it has costs
Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Unpubl. ms.), we considered and tested adjusting the culturing time according to the observed phase of germination in each sample for three species (Phellinus ferrugineofuscus, Phellinus viticola, Fomitopsis pinicola; the latter two are included in the present study)
Summary
Dispersal is necessary for the long-term persistence of lineages of organisms, but it has costs. Current ecological literature emphasizes an individual-based approach to movement and dispersal, viewing them as life-history processes determined by the interplay of the traits of the organism and its external environment and subjected to a 2015 The Authors. The costs of dispersal can be measured in terms of energy, time, mortality risk, and lost opportunities (Bonte et al 2012). Costs of dispersal can result in tradeoffs between dispersal and other life-history traits, or between different stages of the dispersal process (Bonte et al 2012). A correct evaluation of the costs of dispersal is crucial in order to estimate the connectivity of landscapes from the point of view of organisms and further to understand and predict where species occur and in the future (Kokko and Lopez-Sepulcre 2006; Burgess et al 2012)
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