Temporal and spatial fluctuations in moisture affect humus microfungal community structure in microcosms
2000
McLean, Anna | Huhta, V.
The effects of temporal and spatial fluctuations in moisture on the microfungal community were studied in birch litter plus pine humus microcosms over 6 months. Two treatments were used: a uniform treatment in which moisture was maintained at the original moisture content throughout the profile over the course of the experiment; and a fluctuating moisture treatment in which the moisture content of the whole microcosm fluctuated weekly around the original moisture content. At 6 months, fungal species richness was higher and diversity was lower under moisture fluctuations than under uniform moisture. The number of fungal isolates and proportional diversity was significantly higher in the bottom layer in the fluctuating moisture treatment. The fluctuating moisture treatment and the bottom layer correlated significantly with the first PCA axis, which accounted for 66% of the variation in the fungal species data. The experiment suggests that even without drying, fluctuations in moisture can affect fungal community structure.
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