Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Fungal Taxa (fungal + taxa)
Selected AbstractsThe promise and the potential consequences of the global transport of mycorrhizal fungal inoculumECOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 5 2006Mark W. Schwartz Abstract Advances in ecology during the past decade have led to a much more detailed understanding of the potential negative consequences of species' introductions. Moreover, recent studies of mycorrhizal symbionts have led to an increased knowledge of the potential utility of fungal inoculations in agricultural, horticultural and ecological management. The intentional movement of mycorrhizal fungal species is growing, but the concomitant potential for negative ecological consequences of invasions by mycorrhizal fungi is poorly understood. We assess the degree to which introductions of mycorrhizal fungi may lead to unintended negative, and potentially costly, consequences. Our purpose is to make recommendations regarding appropriate management guidelines and highlight top priority research needs. Given the difficulty in discerning invasive species problems associated with mycorrhizal inoculations, we recommend the following. First, careful assessment documenting the need for inoculation, and the likelihood of success, should be conducted prior to inoculation because inoculations are not universally beneficial. Second, invasive species problems are costly and often impossible to control by the time they are recognized. We recommend using local inoculum sources whenever possible. Third, non-sterile cultures of inoculum can result in the movement of saprobes and pathogens as well as mutualists. We recommend using material that has been produced through sterile culture when local inoculum is not available. Finally, life-history characteristics of inoculated fungi may provide general guidelines relative to the likelihood of establishment and spread. We recommend that, when using non-local fungi, managers choose fungal taxa that carry life-history traits that may minimize the likelihood of deleterious invasive species problems. Additional research is needed on the potential of mycorrhizal fungi to spread to non-target areas and cause ecological damage. [source] Ericoid mycorrhiza: a partnership that exploits harsh edaphic conditionsEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE, Issue 4 2003J. W. G. Cairney Summary Plants that form ericoid mycorrhizal associations are widespread in harsh habitats. Ericoid mycorrhizal fungal endophytes are a genetically diverse group, and they appear to be able to alleviate certain environmental stresses and so facilitate the establishment and survival of Ericaceae. Some of the fungal taxa that form ericoid mycorrhizas, or at least closely related strains, also form associations with other plant hosts (trees and leafy liverworts). The functional significance of these associations and putative mycelial links between Ericaceae and other plant taxa, however, remain unclear. Evidence from environments that are contaminated by toxic metals indicates that ericoid mycorrhizal fungal endophytes, and in some instances their plant hosts, can evolve resistance to these metals. The apparent ability of these endophytes to develop resistance enables ericoid mycorrhizal plants to colonize polluted soil. This seems to be a major factor in the success of ericoid mycorrhizal taxa in a range of harsh environments. [source] Raised water temperature lowers diversity of hyporheic aquatic hyphomycetesFRESHWATER BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2008FELIX BÄRLOCHER Summary 1. The hyporheic zone of a permanent first-order stream was divided into a treatment and a control section using a 1 m deep sheet-metal barrier. During a 4-month pre-treatment period, water temperatures in two transects of the two sections were not different. Upon heating, the water temperature in the treatment transect increased by an average of 4.3 °C over values in the control transect. 2. Eleven bimonthly core samples were taken from a treatment and a control transect, and recovered CPOM was classified as twigs, wood, grass, roots, cedar and deciduous leaves. 3. In both transects, twigs were the most common and deciduous leaves the least common substrates. The number of leaf fragments declined significantly in the heat-treated transect. 4. Diversity and frequencies of occurrence of aquatic hyphomycetes were highest on leaves and lowest on grass and wood. On leaves, their frequency of occurrence was higher in control than in treatment samples. 5. Preliminary results with amplified and cloned 18S DNA sequences revealed many fungal taxa with high affinities to Basidiomycota, particularly to Limnoperdon incarnatum. 6. By itself, higher water temperature due to global warming is likely to lower the availability of substrates for, and therefore the occurrence of, aquatic hyphomycetes. [source] Determination of aerial microbiological contamination in scholastic sports environmentsJOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 5 2003C. Dacarro Abstract Aims: To assess the microbiological indoor air quality (IAQ) of high school and college gyms during physical training lessons and to evaluate the effective microbiological exposure of students. Methods and Results: Air samples from 11 high school and college gyms of Pavia, Italy were collected. Total bacterial counts, total fungal counts and characterization of fungal taxa were determined. Air quality was evaluated using three microbiological contamination indices: the global index of microbiological contamination per m3 (GIMC per m3), the index of mesophilic bacterial contamination (IMC) and the amplification index (AI). Conclusions: This work testifies that air contamination in indoor gyms is always superior to that of the outdoor environment. Nevertheless, students are exposed to relatively low concentrations of airborne micro-organisms. The highest values of fungal counts and GIMC per m3 (>14 661) were observed between April and October when the central heating systems were switched off. The lowest fungal counts were detected in modern buildings equipped with forced ventilation systems. From qualitative aeromycological studies, 45 fungal taxa were identified, and different potentially allergenic species were isolated. Significance and Impact of the Study: The standardization of air sampling methods and the correct evaluation of aeromicrobiological results allow the classification of indoor air healthiness. The proposed microbiological contamination indices together with the characterization of airborne fungal taxa are useful tools for detailed description of IAQ. [source] Below-ground ectomycorrhizal community structure in a recently burned bishop pine forestJOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 6 2000P. Grogan Summary 1,The effects of wildfire ash on ectomycorrhizal (EM) associations were investigated by sampling bishop pine (Pinus muricata, D. Don) seedlings from control and ash-removed plots 1.5 years after a severe fire in a northern Californian P. muricata forest. The below-ground community composition of EM at the site was characterized using molecular techniques (PCR-RFLP and nucleotide sequencing). 2,A total of 30 fungal taxa were observed, many of which differed in their distribution between treatment and control seedlings. However, most of the taxa that were distinctive to either treatment or control seedlings occurred only once across the site, precluding statistical detection of potential ash effects on EM community composition. There were no significant effects of ash removal on plot-level mycorrhizal community richness or diversity, and there were no distinct treatment-related clusters in a principal components analysis. 3,Analysis of the combined data indicated that numbers of fungal taxa per seedling, numbers of successive root depth increments colonized by the same taxon, and distances to neighbouring seedlings colonized by the same taxon, were randomly distributed across the site for the majority of mycorrhizal fungi. These distributional patterns suggest that the post-fire mycorrhizal community structure on P. muricata arose primarily from successful colonization by randomly distributed point-source fungal inocula within the upper mineral soil layer of the forest floor. 4,By comparison with pre-fire studies from similar P. muricata sites nearby, our data indicate that severe wildfire disturbance resulted in marked changes in mycorrhizal community composition, and a sharp increase in the relative biomass of ascomycetous fungi. [source] Mammal mycophagy and fungal spore dispersal across a steep environmental gradient in eastern AustraliaAUSTRAL ECOLOGY, Issue 1 2009KARL VERNES Abstract We examined changes in the types of fungi consumed by six species of small mammals across a habitat gradient in north-eastern New South Wales that graded from swamp, to woodland, to open forest and then to rainforest. All mammals ate some fungus, but only bush rats (Rattus fuscipes) regularly did so, and their diet included most of the fungal taxa that we identified across all mammals in the study. The composition of bush rat diet changed significantly with each change in habitat from woodland, to forest, to rainforest. In particular, there was a significant difference in the diets of rats caught either side of the open forest-rainforest ecotone, which marks the change in fungal community from one dominated by ectomycorrhizal fungi, to a community dominated by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Movement patterns of bush rats living around the open forest-rainforest ecotone suggest that they transport fungal spores between these contrasting fungal communities. Therefore, bush rats have the potential, by way of spore dispersal, to influence the structure of vegetation communities. [source] | ||||||||||