TY - JOUR
T1 - Habitat-scale heterogeneity maintains fungal endophyte diversity in two native prairie legumes
AU - DeMers, Mara
AU - May, Georgiana
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - The assembly of fungal endophyte communities within plants depends on the complex interactions of fungal taxa, their host plants, and the abiotic environment. Prairie plant communities provide a unique avenue to explore the interplay of biotic and abiotic factors affecting endophyte communities, since the historical distribution of prairies spans a broad range of temperature and precipitation, while the distances between small fragments of contemporary prairie communities may challenge the dispersal capabilities of these otherwise ubiquitous fungi. We sampled foliar fungal endophytes from two native prairie legumes, purple and white prairie clovers (Dalea purpurea and D. candida), in 17 remnant prairie sites across Minnesota in order to evaluate the relative contributions of abiotic factors, host species, and dispersal limitation to the diversity and structure of these communities. We found that similarity of communities was significantly associated with their location along a temperature and precipitation gradient, and we showed a distance-decay relationship that suggests dispersal limitations only over very large spatial scales. Although the effect of host species was small relative to these other factors, the two Dalea species maintained distinct communities within sites where they co-occur. Our results illustrate the capacity of many of these endophyte taxa to disperse over large distances and across heterogeneous biotic and abiotic environments and suggest that the interplay of biotic and abiotic factors maintains high diversity observed in endophyte communities.
AB - The assembly of fungal endophyte communities within plants depends on the complex interactions of fungal taxa, their host plants, and the abiotic environment. Prairie plant communities provide a unique avenue to explore the interplay of biotic and abiotic factors affecting endophyte communities, since the historical distribution of prairies spans a broad range of temperature and precipitation, while the distances between small fragments of contemporary prairie communities may challenge the dispersal capabilities of these otherwise ubiquitous fungi. We sampled foliar fungal endophytes from two native prairie legumes, purple and white prairie clovers (Dalea purpurea and D. candida), in 17 remnant prairie sites across Minnesota in order to evaluate the relative contributions of abiotic factors, host species, and dispersal limitation to the diversity and structure of these communities. We found that similarity of communities was significantly associated with their location along a temperature and precipitation gradient, and we showed a distance-decay relationship that suggests dispersal limitations only over very large spatial scales. Although the effect of host species was small relative to these other factors, the two Dalea species maintained distinct communities within sites where they co-occur. Our results illustrate the capacity of many of these endophyte taxa to disperse over large distances and across heterogeneous biotic and abiotic environments and suggest that the interplay of biotic and abiotic factors maintains high diversity observed in endophyte communities.
KW - Alternaria
KW - community assembly
KW - dispersal limitation
KW - species diversity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85095797734&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85095797734&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/00275514.2020.1813487
DO - 10.1080/00275514.2020.1813487
M3 - Article
C2 - 33146593
AN - SCOPUS:85095797734
JO - Mycologia
JF - Mycologia
SN - 0027-5514
ER -