Abstract
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF—Glomeromycota) are a group of soil fungi with a widespread occurrence in terrestrial ecosystems where they play important roles that influence plant growth and ecosystem processes. The aim of this paper is to reveal AMF distribution in the Neotropics based on an extensive biogeography database with literature data from the last five decades. All four orders and 11 families were reported in the Neotropics. 221 species (69% of the total number of species for the phylum) were registered in the Neotropics pertaining to 37 genera. Acaulospora, Glomus, Scutellospora, and Funneliformis were the most speciose genera and represented by 47, 29, 15, and 13 species, respectively. Seventy-six species were originally described from Neotropics, which represents 24% of the total diversity of Glomeromycota. The most representative families were Gigasporaceae, Ambisporaceae, and Acaulosporaceae with 89%, 80%, and 79% of species within each family detected in the Neotropics, respectively. AMF were detected in 11 biomes and 52 ecological regions in 19 countries. Biomes with the largest number of species were Tropical and Subtropical Moist Forests (186 species), Tropical and Subtropical Dry Broadleaf forests (127 species), and Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands (124 species), and Jaccard’s similarity among them was 53–57%. Mean annual temperature and precipitation were not correlated with total AMF species richness. The Neotropics biomes shelter a large amount of the total diversity of Glomeromycota and studies of occurrence of these fungi should be encouraged considering their importance in maintaining terrestrial ecosystems.
Highlights
Fungi in the phylum Glomeromycota include the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) which are associated with vascular plants and thalloid bryophytes (Brundrett and Tedersoo, 2018) and Geosiphon pyriformis associated with the cyanobacteria Nostoc (Schussler et al, 1994)
The number of AMF species recorded for the Neotropics is 221, which represents 69% of the 317 species (International Culture Collection of Glomeromycota [CICG], 2020) described up to date for the phylum Glomeromycota (Table 1)
While Cofré et al (2019) focused on reporting AMF species richness in distinct ecoregions in South America and Maia et al (2020) focused on Brazilian floristic domains, our study converged to reveal distribution patterns among biomes occurring in the Neotropics
Summary
Fungi in the phylum Glomeromycota include the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) which are associated with vascular plants and thalloid bryophytes (Brundrett and Tedersoo, 2018) and Geosiphon pyriformis associated with the cyanobacteria Nostoc (Schussler et al, 1994). Considering the lack of host specificity and the long geological time they have to disperse around the globe, it is not surprising that AMF are widely widespread in terrestrial ecosystems forming the arbuscular mycorrhizal association with 72% of plants species (Brundrett and Tedersoo, 2018) in all biogeographic realms and biomes (Stürmer et al, 2018). The Neotropics are distributed across the North American, the Caribbean, and the South America tectonic plates (Antonelli and Sanmartín, 2011). Neotropics includes 11 out of 14 terrestrial biomes recognized by Olson et al (2001): Desert and Xeric Shrublands (DXS), Mangroves (MAN), Mediterranean Forests (MED), Montane Grasslands and Shrublands (MON), Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forests (TMF), Temperate Grasslands (TGS), Tropical and Subtropical Dry Forests (SDF), Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands (SGS), Tropical and Subtropical Moist Forests (SBF), Flooded Grasslands (FGS), and Tropical and Subtropical Coniferous Forests (SCF)
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