Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, PO Box 5003, NO-1432, Ås, Norway.
Mol Ecol. 2013 Jan;22(2):368-83. doi: 10.1111/mec.12122. Epub 2012 Nov 28.
Although bryophytes are a dominant vegetation component of boreal and alpine ecosystems, little is known about their associated fungal communities. HPLC assays of ergosterol (fungal biomass) and amplicon pyrosequencing of the ITS2 region of rDNA were used to investigate how the fungal communities associated with four bryophyte species changed across an elevational gradient transitioning from conifer forest to the low-alpine. Fungal biomass and OTU richness associated with the four moss hosts did not vary significantly across the gradient (P > 0.05), and both were more strongly affected by host and tissue type. Despite largely constant levels of fungal biomass, distinct shifts in community composition of fungi associated with Hylocomium, Pleurozium and Polytrichum occurred between the elevation zones of the gradient. This likely is a result of influence on fungal communities by major environmental factors such as temperature, directly or indirectly mediated by, or interacting with, the response of other components of the vegetation (i.e. the dominant trees). Fungal communities associated with Dicranum were an exception, exhibiting spatial autocorrelation between plots, and no significant structuring by elevation. Nevertheless, the detection of distinct fungal assemblages associated with a single host growing in different elevation zones along an elevational gradient is of particular relevance in the light of the ongoing changes in vegetation patterns in boreal and alpine systems due to global climate warming.
尽管苔藓植物是北方森林和高山生态系统的主要植被组成部分，但对其相关真菌群落知之甚少。本文使用高效液相色谱法（HPLC）测定麦角固醇（真菌生物量）和扩增子焦磷酸测序技术（rDNA 的 ITS2 区），研究了与四种苔藓物种相关的真菌群落如何随着从针叶林到低高山的海拔梯度而变化。与四个苔藓宿主相关的真菌生物量和 OTU 丰富度在整个梯度上没有显著变化（P > 0.05），并且两者都受到宿主和组织类型的强烈影响。尽管真菌生物量水平基本保持不变，但与 Hylocomium、Pleurozium 和 Polytrichum 相关的真菌群落组成在梯度的海拔带之间发生了明显的变化。这可能是由于温度等主要环境因素对真菌群落的影响，这些因素直接或间接通过植被其他组成部分（即主要树木）的反应来介导或相互作用。与 Dicranum 相关的真菌群落是一个例外，在不同的样方之间表现出空间自相关，而与海拔无关。然而，在全球气候变暖导致北方森林和高山系统的植被模式发生持续变化的背景下，在不同海拔梯度上生长的同一宿主中检测到不同的真菌组合，这具有特殊意义。
