Transplanting the leafy liverwort Herbertus hutchinsiae : A suitable conservation tool to maintain oceanic-montane liverwort-rich heath?

Thanks to the relevant landowners and managers for permission to carry out the experiments, Chris Preston for helping to obtain the liverwort distribution records and the distribution map, Gordon Rothero and Dave Horsfield for advice on choosing experimental sites and Alex Douglas for statistical advice. Juliane Geyer’s help with fieldwork was greatly appreciated. This study was made possible by a NERC PhD studentship and financial support from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and Scottish Natural Heritage.Peer reviewedPostprin

Arbuscular mycorrhizal colonisation increases with host-density in a heathland community

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Fine-scale distribution of pine ectomycorrhizas and their extramatrical mycelium

In order to clarify the functional role of individual ectomycorrhizal (EcM) fungal species in the field, we need to relate their abundance and distribution as mycorrhizas to their abundance and distribution as extramatrical mycelium (EMM). We divided each of four 20 cm × 20 cm × 2 cm slices of pine forest soil into 100 cubes of 2 cm × 2 cm. For each cube, ectomycorrhizas were identified and the presence of EMM of the EcM fungi recorded as ectomycorrhizas was determined by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis of ITS rDNA. Ectomycorrhizas and EMM of seven EcM species were mapped. Spatial segregation of mycorrhizas and EMM was evident and some species produced their EMM in different soil layers from their mycorrhizas. The spatial relationship between mycorrhizas and their EMM generally conformed to their reported exploration types, but EMM of smooth types (e.g. Lactarius rufus) was more frequent than expected. Different EcM fungi foraged at different spatial scales

A method for the direct detection of airborne dispersal in lichens

This paper sets out a novel method to determine dispersal distances in lichens. Direct measurement of dispersal often remains difficult for lichens and other small inconspicuous species because of the need to track microscopic reproductive propagules, which even if they can be captured, cannot be identified using traditional morphological approaches. A low-cost device (<£200) was developed in order to trap the reproductive propagules of lichens, capable of sampling around 0.1m3 of air per minute. In parallel, molecular techniques were developed to enable species specific detection of propagules caught by the devices, with identification using novel species-specific primers and optimization of a standard DNA extraction and nested PCR protocol. The methods were tested for both their sensitivity and specificity against a suite of lichen epiphytes, differing in their reproductive mechanisms, dispersal structures, and rarity. Sensitivity tests showed that the molecular techniques could detect a single asexual propagule (soredium or isidium), or as few as 10 sexual spores. As proof of concept, propagule traps were deployed into a wooded landscape where the target epiphytes were present. Extractions from deployed propagule traps were sequenced, showing that the method was able to detect the presence of the target species in the atmosphere. As far as we are aware, this is the first attempt to use mechanized propagule traps in combination with DNA diagnostics to detect dispersal of lichens. The tests carried out here point the way for future dispersal studies of lichen epiphytes and other passively-dispersed microscopic organisms including fungi or bryophytes

Fine-scale diversity and distribution of ectomycorrhizal fungal mycelium in a Scots pine forest

Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) mycelium is a key component of the ectomycorrhizal symbiosis, yet we know little regarding the fine-scale diversity and distribution of mycelium in ECM fungal communities. We collected four 20 × 20 × 2-cm3 (800-cm3) slices of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) forest soil and divided each into 100 2 × 2 × 2-cm3 (8-cm3) cubes. The presence of mycelium of ECM fungi was determined using an internal transcribed spacer (ITS) database terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) approach. As expected, many more ECM fungi were detected as mycelium than as ectomycorrhizas in a cube or slice. More surprisingly, up to one-quarter of the 43 species previously detected as ectomycorrhizas over an area of 400 m2 could be detected in a single 8-cm3 cube, and up to three-quarters in a single 800-cm3 slice. ECM mycelium frequency decreased markedly with depth and there were distinct 'hotspots' of mycelium in the moss/F1 layer. Our data demonstrate a high diversity of ECM mycelium in a small (8-cm3) volume of substrate, and indicate that the spatial scale at which ECM species are distributed as mycelium may be very different from the spatial scale at which they are distributed as tips

How do plants regulate the function, community structure, and diversity of mycorrhizal fungi?

In many semi-natural and natural ecosystems, mycorrhizal fungi are the most abundant and functionally important group of soil micro-organisms. They are almost wholly dependent on their host plants to supply them with photosynthate in return for which they enable the plant to access greater quantities of nutrients. Thus, there is considerable potential for plant communities to regulate the structure and function of mycorrhizal communities. This paper reviews some of the key recent developments that have enabled the influence of plant species richness, composition, and age on mycorrhizal communities in boreal forests and temperate grassland to be determined. It discusses the emerging evidence that, in some situations, plant species richness is related to mycorrhizal species richness, in contrast to previous thinking. The paper also includes some preliminary data on the effect of host stand age on root-associated basidiomycete communities. It concludes by highlighting some of the new methodological advances that promise to unravel the linkages between mycorrhizal diversity and their function in situ

Invasion by Rhododendron ponticum depletes the native seed bank with long-term impacts after its removal

Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10530-017-1538-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.Peer reviewedPostprintPostprin

Basidiomycete fungal communities in Australian sclerophyll forest soil are altered by repeated prescribed burning

Soil basidiomycetes play key roles in forest nutrient and carbon cycling processes, yet the diversity and structure of below ground basidiomycete communities remain poorly understood. Prescribed burning is a commonly used forest management practice and there is evidence that single fire events can have an impact on soil fungal communities but little is known about the effects of repeated prescribed burning. We have used internal transcribed spacer (ITS) terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis to investigate the impacts of repeated prescribed burning every two or four years over a period of 30 years on soil basidiomycete communities in an Australian wet sclerophyll forest. Detrended correspondence analysis of ITS T-RFLP profiles separated basidiomycete communities in unburned control plots from those in burned plots, with those burned every two years being the most different from controls. Burning had no effect on basidiomycete species richness, thus these differences appear to be due to changes in community structure. Basidiomycete communities in the unburned control plots were vertically stratified in the upper 20 cm of soil, but no evidence was found for stratification in the burned plots, suggesting that repeated prescribed burning results in more uniform basidiomycete communities. Overall, the results demonstrate that repeated prescribed burning alters soil basidiomycete communities, with the effect being greater with more frequent burning