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Veach AM, Stokes CE, Knoepp J, Jumpponen A, Baird R. Fungal Communities and Functional Guilds Shift Along an Elevational Gradient in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. MICROBIAL ECOLOGY 2018; 76:156-168. [PMID: 29204781 DOI: 10.1007/s00248-017-1116-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2017] [Accepted: 11/20/2017] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Nitrogen deposition alters forest ecosystems particularly in high elevation, montane habitats where nitrogen deposition is greatest and continues to increase. We collected soils across an elevational (788-1940 m) gradient, encompassing both abiotic (soil chemistry) and biotic (vegetation community) gradients, at eight locations in the southern Appalachian Mountains of southwestern North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. We measured soil chemistry (total N, C, extractable PO4, soil pH, cation exchange capacity [ECEC], percent base saturation [% BS]) and dissected soil fungal communities using ITS2 metabarcode Illumina MiSeq sequencing. Total soil N, C, PO4, % BS, and pH increased with elevation and plateaued at approximately 1400 m, whereas ECEC linearly increased and C/N decreased with elevation. Fungal communities differed among locations and were correlated with all chemical variables, except PO4, whereas OTU richness increased with total N. Several ecological guilds (i.e., ectomycorrhizae, saprotrophs, plant pathogens) differed in abundance among locations; specifically, saprotroph abundance, primarily attributable to genus Mortierella, was positively correlated with elevation. Ectomycorrhizae declined with total N and soil pH and increased with total C and PO4 where plant pathogens increased with total N and decreased with total C. Our results demonstrate significant turnover in taxonomic and functional fungal groups across elevational gradients which facilitate future predictions on forest ecosystem change in the southern Appalachians as nitrogen deposition rates increase and regional temperature and precipitation regimes shift.
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Affiliation(s)
- Allison M Veach
- Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 66506, USA.
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA.
| | - C Elizabeth Stokes
- Department of Forest Products, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS, 39762, USA
- Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology, and Plant Pathology, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS, 39762, USA
| | - Jennifer Knoepp
- USDA, Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Center for Forest Watershed Research, Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, Otto, NC, 28763, USA
| | - Ari Jumpponen
- Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 66506, USA
| | - Richard Baird
- Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology, and Plant Pathology, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS, 39762, USA
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Foundation Species Loss and Biodiversity of the Herbaceous Layer in New England Forests. FORESTS 2015. [DOI: 10.3390/f7010009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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Baird R, Wood-Jones A, Varco J, Watson C, Starrett W, Taylor G, Johnson K. All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory Survey of Select Soil and Plant Ecological Parameters Associated with Rhododendron Decline in the Great Smoky Mountains and Surrounding Areas. SOUTHEAST NAT 2013. [DOI: 10.1656/058.012.0412] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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