Structure and phylogenetic diversity of post-fire ectomycorrhizal communities of maritime pine

Environmental disturbances define the diversity and assemblage of species, affecting the functioning of eco- systems. Fire is a major disturbance of Mediterranean pine forests. Pines are highly dependent on the ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungal symbiosis, which is critical for tree recruitment under primary succession. To determine the effects of time since fire on the structure and recovery of EM fungal com- munities, we surveyed the young Pinus pinaster regenerate in three sites differing in the elapsed time after the last fire event. Pine roots were collected, and EM fungi characterized by sequencing the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and the large subunit (LSU) regions of the nuclear ribosomal (nr)-DNA. The effects of the elapsed time after fire on the EM community structure (richness, presence/absence of fungi, phylogenetic diversity) and on soil properties were analysed. Fungal richness decreased with the elapsed time since the fire; although, the phylogenetic diversity of the EM community increased. Soil properties were different depending on the elapsed time after fire and particularly, the organic matter, carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio, nitrogen and iron significantly correlated with the assemblage of fungal species. Ascomycetes, particularly Tuberaceae and Pezizales, were significantly over- Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00572-013-0520-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. A. Rincón (*) : B. P. Santamaría Instituto de Ciencias Agrarias (ICA-CSIC), Serrano 115bis, 28006 Madrid, Spain e-mail: ana.rincon@csic.es L. Ocaña Empresa de Transformación Agraria, S.A. Julián Camarillo, 6b., 28037 Madrid, Spain M. Verdú Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificación (CIDE, CSIC-UV-GV), Carretera de Moncada-Náquera Km 4.5, 46113, Moncada Valencia, Spain represented on saplings in the burned site. On seedlings, a significant over-representation of Rhizopogonaceae and Atheliaceae was observed in the most recently burned site, while other fungi (i.e. Cortinariaceae) were significantly under-represented. Our results are consistent with the hypoth- esis that fire can act as a selective agent by printing a phyloge- netic signal on the EM fungal communities associated with naturally regenerated pines, pointing out to some groups as potential fire-adapted fungi.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Rincón, A., Santamaria, B. P., Ocaña, L., Verdú, Miguel
Other Authors:	Comunidad de Madrid
Format:	artículo biblioteca
Published:	Springer 2014-02
Subjects:	Fungal diversity, Ectomycorrhizas, Fire ecology, Phylogenetic structure, Pinus pinaster,
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10261/140823 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004837 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100012818
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