Abstract
Abstract We investigated re-establishment of fungal communities on eight former colliery sites in South Wales following revegetation 22–27 y earlier. Regraded bare coal-spoil was seeded to sheep-grazed grasslands, with saplings planted into coal-spoil for woodlands. Metabarcoding (28S rRNA, D1 region) of soil fungal populations showed that woodland and grassland habitats were clearly divergent but edaphic variables only weakly affected fungal community structure. Root-associated basidiomycetes dominated all habitats, with ectomycorrhizal fungi more abundant in woodlands and Clavariaceae/Hygrophoraceae (‘CHEG’ fungi) in grasslands. The composition of coal-spoil grassland communities resembled that of a typical upland grassland site, suggesting that propagule immigration was not a limiting factor. However, fungal biomass (ergosterol) was 3-fold lower, reflecting high bulk density and poor structure. Re-establishment of fungal communities in coal-spoil soils represents an important barometer of restoration success. From a fungal conservation perspective, such sites represent important refugia for waxcap fungi subject to habitat loss from agricultural intensification.
Highlights
Fungi play a central role in soil as decomposers of organic matter, plant mutualists and pathogens; they have a significant impact on plant growth and carbon sequestration (Paul, 2014)
The effect on plant growth of mycorrhizal fungi depends on the nutrient status of soils (Jonsson et al, 2001) and their impact can range along a continuum from parasitism to mutualism (Jones and Smith, 2004) evidence indicates a positive interaction in grasslands (Van Der Heijden et al, 2006)
We found that distinct grassland and woodland fungal communities have developed in soils derived from former coal-spoil
Summary
Fungi play a central role in soil as decomposers of organic matter, plant mutualists and pathogens; they have a significant impact on plant growth and carbon sequestration (Paul, 2014). If fungi from the saprotrophic and symbiotrophic guilds do not establish well on newly vegetated land, plant growth will be impacted, affecting litter decomposition and carbon sequestration in soil (Clemmensen et al, 2015). Pedogenesis can occur de novo on coal-spoils in a manner not dissimilar to that in post-glacial or post-volcanic areas. In this respect, the restoration may be similar to a primary successional system for soil biota and so provide an indication of how fungal communities develop in new habitats
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