Changes in composition and abundance of functional groups of arctic fungi in response to long-term summer warming

Biol Lett. 2016 Nov;12(11):20160503. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0503.

Abstract

We characterized fungal communities in dry and moist tundra and investigated the effect of long-term experimental summer warming on three aspects of functional groups of arctic fungi: richness, community composition and species abundance. Warming had profound effects on community composition, abundance, and, to a lesser extent, on richness of fungal functional groups. In addition, our data show that even within functional groups, the direction and extent of response to warming tend to be species-specific and we recommend that studies on fungal communities and their roles in nutrient cycling take into account species-level responses.

Keywords: climate change; fungal ecology; metabarcoding; tundra.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Alaska
  • Arctic Regions
  • Biodiversity
  • Climate Change
  • DNA, Fungal / genetics*
  • Fungi / classification
  • Fungi / genetics
  • Fungi / physiology*
  • Seasons
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • Soil Microbiology*
  • Temperature
  • Tundra*

Substances

  • DNA, Fungal

Associated data

  • Dryad/10.5061/dryad.2fc32