Abstract
Molecular methodologies were used to characterize fungal communities associated with lichen-dominated biological soil crusts (BSCs) at two sites on the Colorado Plateau (USA) in order to investigate their diversity and abundance, in relation to that of bacteria, as well as how these parameters corresponded to overall soil crust cover and the presence of anthropogenic disturbance. Fungal community diversity and composition were assessed with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) fingerprinting of PCR amplified ribosomal genes and by sequencing. Quantitative PCR, specific for fungi as well as bacteria, was used to evaluate relative microbial densities. Two sites with similar soil characteristics, both of which contained well developed BSCs dominated by lichens, were studied. Results indicated that while a considerable diversity of fungi is present within these BSCs, much higher than what has previously been determined for cyanobacteria-dominated crusts, fungi contribute less biomass and are less diverse than their bacterial counterparts. Fungal diversity in lichen-dominated BSCs was negatively correlated with disturbance and positively correlated with crust cover.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1192-1199 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Journal of Arid Environments |
Volume | 74 |
Issue number | 10 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 2010 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This research was funded by the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service grant H1200-04-0002 , the Bureau of Land Management grant AAA060005 to ASU, and the National Science Foundation Biodiversity Surveys and Inventories Grant 0206711 . We thank Kari Yanskey, botanists for Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, for her support, guidance, and assistance over the course of this study. Finally, we thank Angel Garcia, Jessica Groch, Jennifer Riddell, and members of the Garcia-Pichel lab for their assistance in the field as well as in the lab. Finally, we thank the anonymous reviewers whose comments greatly improved the quality of this publication.
Keywords
- Bacteria
- Biological soil crust
- Colorado Plateau
- DGGE
- Fungal diversity
- Lichens