| Abstract Detail
Phylogenetic and functional patterns of host plants and their associated fungi: implications for symbiotic co-evolution, community interactions, and ecosystem processes Peay, Kabir [1], Bruns , Thomas [2]. Dispersal, functional traits & phylogenetics in ectomycorrhizal community assembly. In this talk we use a traditional community ecology framework to explore mechanisms underlying the assembly of ectomycorrhizal communities. Two key processes that determine community assembly are dispersal and habitat filtering. Dispersal is the first barrier to membership within a community, however, few studies have explicitly examined its affects on ectomycorrhizal community assembly. We focus primarily on functional traits that determine dispersal potential of fungal spores and subsequent colonization of host roots. This is based on evidence from both field and greenhouse studies designed to quantify such factors as spore dispersal distances, spore longevity and spore heat resistance. Differences between species in these traits are closely linked with patterns of community assembly observed in natural and experimental studies of ectomycorrhizal fungi at Point Reyes National Seashore, CA. Together these results suggest that dispersal is a major determinant of ectomycorrhizal community assembly. To demonstrate the role of habitat filtering in ectomycorrhizal community assembly, we present evidence from a study conducted in Southeast Asia across a sharp soil ecotone. We used molecular methods to profile ectomycorrhizal communities on contrasting soil types that occur in close spatial proximity. Diversity was very high in this system and most plots shared no species in common. However, the use of comparative phylogenetic community ecology methods shows that habitat filtering is likely an important determinant of community structure in this system.
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1 - UC Berkeley, Plant & Microbial Biology, 301 Koshland Hall, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
2 - University of California Berkeley, Plant and Microbial Biology, 321 Koshland Hall, Berkeley, CA, 94720-3102, USA
Keywords:
ectomycorrhizas
dispersal
phylogenetics
community assembly
Point Reyes
Bishop pine
habitat filtering.
Presentation Type: Symposium or Colloquium Presentation
Session: SY13
Location: Rendezvous A/Snowbird Center
Date: Wednesday, July 29th, 2009
Time: 2:45 PM
Number: SY13004
Abstract ID:297 |
