COS 256-5 - Gamma and beta diversity of wood-inhabiting fungi in response to canopy treatments over time

Thursday, August 10, 2023

10:45 AM – 11:00 AM PDT

Location: B119

Presenting Author(s)

JS

Jasper Schreiber

Goethe University Frankfurt, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Institute for Ecology, Evolution and Diversity, Conservation Biology, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Germany

Coauthor(s)

PB

Petr Baldrian

Laboratory of Environmental Microbiology, Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic, Czech Republic
VB

Vendula Brabcová

Laboratory of Environmental Microbiology, Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic, Czech Republic
RB

Roland Brandl

Philips University of Marburg, Faculty of Biology, Department of Ecology, Animal Ecology, 35032 Marburg, Germany, Germany
HK

Harald Kellner

Researcher
TU Dresden - IHI Zittau
Zittau, Sachsen, Germany
JM

Jörg Müller

University of Würzburg, Field Station Fabrikschleichach, Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology Biocenter, 96181 Rauhenebrach, Germany, Germany
FR

Friederike Roy, n/a

TU Dresden - IHI Zittau, Sachsen, Germany
CB

Claus Bässler

Goethe University Frankfurt, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Institute for Ecology, Evolution and Diversity, Conservation Biology, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Germany
FK

Franz-Sebastian Krah

Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany

Abstract: The interplay of climate change, disturbances and forest management increase canopy mortality, altering the microclimatic conditions within forests. Organisms such as wood-inhabiting insects and fungi are exposed to the resulting microclimates and their communities were shown to differ between dead wood under closed and open canopies. However, we have only a vague understanding of how fungal diversity differs between canopy treatments and how time may alter those responses. We used a dead wood experiment to study temporal effects of microclimate on fungal fruiting communities. To disentangle microclimate effects from other factors, we manipulated a total of 237 dead wood logs of equal origin, size, age and cause of death of two substrate types (tree species) under closed vs. experimentally opened forest canopies. Fungal fruit bodies were identified for 10 consecutive years. We used incidence-frequencies and Hill numbers to study gamma and beta diversity of rare, common and dominant species between standardized canopy treatments over time.
Gamma diversity showed an overall and significant increase under both canopy treatments. In later years, common and dominant, but not rare, species showed lower diversity trends under open compared with closed canopies. Visual analysis of the 10 most abundant species showed changes in abundance over time, rather than absences under open canopies. Overall, we found low beta diversity between canopy treatments and mostly non-significant changes with time. Beta diversity of rare was significantly lower than of common and dominant species. Analyses of decay stages instead of time revealed similar but not identical trends of gamma diversity and non-significant trends for beta diversity.
Temporary or enduring canopy loss may lead to changes in species frequencies, but may not necessarily result in significant changes in overall species richness or beta diversity. Differeneces in gamma diversity between canopy treatments could only partly explained by differences in decay rates. Our results suggest that wood-inhabiting fungi have microclimatic preferenes but can exist under a wide range of environmental conditions. Future canopy mortality will likely not substantially alter gamma and beta diversity but abundance-dominance relationships in humid continental climates. Whether fruit body data is representative of mycelium-based pattern remains to be tested.