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Diversit y of fungi and potential function in naturally regenerating cut-over peatlands. Rebekka Artz, Stephen Chapman, Ian Anderson, and Colin Campbell. Fungal communities in peat. Fungi are the primary degraders of plant necromass
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Diversity of fungi and potential function in naturally regenerating cut-over peatlands Rebekka Artz, Stephen Chapman, Ian Anderson, and Colin Campbell
Fungal communities in peat • Fungi are the primary degraders of plant necromass • So far, investigations of fungi have focused on standing plant material or litter only • Direct identification or cultivation used • Differences in bacterial and archaeal composition of peat horizons shown using molecular techniques - how about fungi? • Is fungal community composition an indicator of regeneration?
FI SC FB FR CH
Vascular plant litter (if present) 2 3 4 6 8 0 – 5 cm moss (if present) or peat 5 – 10 cm moss (if present) or peat 22.5 – 27.5 cm peat 42.5 – 47.5 cm peat
OH CHOH Waxes Lignins OM decomposition in peat horizons SC_D site: > 50 y regeneration
OM decomposition in peat horizons Site SC_B: 5-10 y regeneration, 2 cm of Sp. fallax and Eriophorum spp.
ITS1F & ITS4R ITS1F+GC & ITS2R Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis DGGE of fungal ITS ITS1 ITS2 18 S 5.8 S 28 S
30 % Formamide + urea 60 % DGGE gel patterns of fungal ITS fragments from SC_B
Lower peat horizons Upper peat horizons Cluster analysis on band patterns Differences between peat horizons can be distinguished
M Undisturbed Milled 1 2 3 1 2 3 Cut-over peat surfaces have lower fungal diversity and generally different community structure
Bare surface, 5-10 y Undisturbed peat Colonised with Sp. fallax, Eriophorum spp.; 5-10 y Colonised with Sp. fallax, Eriophorum spp.; > 50 y Significant differences between sites Horizon 4 Older sites of regeneration have band patterns more similar to those of intact sites
Conclusions • Cut-over peat surfaces have lower and different fungal diversity to intact surfaces • Peat horizons show significantly differing fungal communities, probably due to the nature of available carbon substrates • Site-to-site differences • Natural regeneration of peat shows fungal communities that become more similar to undisturbed peat over time – an indicator of regeneration?
Acknowledgements • RECIPE: Reconciling commercial exploitation of peat with biodiversity of peatland ecosystems (www.macaulay.ac.uk\RECIPE) • The many RECIPE partners in Finland, France, Switzerland and Germany