Abstract
Ectomycorrhizal fungi (EcM) are critical to the health and sustainability of many African ecosystems that include EcM-associated tree species. In Sub-Saharan Africa, three major EcM-dominated vegetation types can be distinguished: the Central African Guineo-Congolian rainforests, the West African Sudanian woodlands and the East African Zambezian Miombo woodlands. While the rainforests feature humid conditions with isolated patches of EcM trees amongst predominantly arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) communities, the woodlands are characterised by drier soils and more vast continuous areas of EcM trees. We hypothesise that the isolation of EcM tree patches within the rainforest promotes a unique and potentially endemic EcM fungal community, while riparian forests found along rivers in woodland areas may serve as corridors, facilitating the spread of such rare taxa into woodland regions. In this study, we employ root tip metabarcoding combined with Species Hypothesis (SH) matching to characterise the EcM communities across these three vegetation types. Consistent with previous findings from fruit-body surveys and eDNA studies, our results show that Russulaceae is the most abundant EcM clade across all three regions. Other clades reveal greater discrepancy compared to their above-ground abundances, with notably high abundances of Inocybaceae , Thelephoraceae and Sebacinaceae , especially in woodlands. Conversely, Amanitaceae and Boletacaeae appear under-represented. Both Boletaceae and Elaphomycetaceae are found to be more prevalent in rainforest and riparian zones, illustrating the unique EcM community of the Guineo-Congolian rainforest. Our findings highlight the corridor potential of riparian areas in facilitating the spread of these rainforest endemics. This suggests that local edaphic and climatic conditions can override broad spatial patterns, such as distance decay, in community structure of African EcM. Moreover, we suggest a stronger effect of EcM host specificity than previously suggested for African fungal communities. Lastly, we assess the level of species-level representation and accuracy of taxonomic annotation of SHs within African Lactifluus . We confirm it to be one of the most thoroughly described and collected fungal genera on the continent, with over 80% of identified SHs represented in our herbarium collections.
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Claims 12
Claim · model-written summary
Russulaceae was the most abundant ectomycorrhizal clade across all three regions.
- Taxon
- EcM-associated tree speciese7
- Interactor
- RussulaceaeRussulaceaee0symbiont
- Outcome
- most abundant EcM cladee0
Verbatim
e0“Russulaceae is the most abundant EcM clade across all three regions”
t1“African vegetation types”
e7“EcM-associated tree species”
Claim · model-written summary
Inocybaceae was notably abundant, especially in woodlands.
- Taxon
- EcM-associated tree speciese7
- Interactor
- InocybaceaeInocybaceaee0symbiont
- Outcome
- high abundances of Inocybaceaee0
- Setting
- woodlandse0
Verbatim
e0“notably high abundances of Inocybaceae , Thelephoraceae and Sebacinaceae , especially in woodlands”
t1“African vegetation types”
e7“EcM-associated tree species”
Claim · model-written summary
Thelephoraceae was notably abundant, especially in woodlands.
- Taxon
- EcM-associated tree speciese7
- Interactor
- ThelephoraceaeThelephoraceaee0symbiont
- Outcome
- high abundances of Inocybaceae , Thelephoraceae and Sebacinaceaee0
- Setting
- woodlandse0
Verbatim
e0“notably high abundances of Inocybaceae , Thelephoraceae and Sebacinaceae , especially in woodlands”
t1“African vegetation types”
e7“EcM-associated tree species”
Claim · model-written summary
Sebacinaceae was notably abundant, especially in woodlands.
- Taxon
- EcM-associated tree speciese7
- Interactor
- SebacinaceaeSebacinaceaee0symbiont
- Outcome
- high abundances of Inocybaceae , Thelephoraceae and Sebacinaceaee0
- Setting
- woodlandse0
Verbatim
e0“notably high abundances of Inocybaceae , Thelephoraceae and Sebacinaceae , especially in woodlands”
t1“African vegetation types”
e7“EcM-associated tree species”
Claim · model-written summary
Amanitaceae appeared under-represented relative to aboveground abundance.
- Taxon
- EcM-associated tree speciese7
- Interactor
- AmanitaceaeAmanitaceaee0symbiont
- Outcome
- under-representede0
Verbatim
e0“Amanitaceae and Boletacaeae appear under-represented”
t1“African vegetation types”
e7“EcM-associated tree species”
Claim · model-written summary
Boletacaeae appeared under-represented relative to aboveground abundance.
Verbatim
e0“Amanitaceae and Boletacaeae appear under-represented”
t1“African vegetation types”
e7“EcM-associated tree species”
Claim · model-written summary
Boletaceae was more prevalent in rainforest and riparian zones.
Verbatim
e0“Boletaceae and Elaphomycetaceae are found to be more prevalent in rainforest and riparian zones”
t1“African vegetation types”
e7“EcM-associated tree species”
Claim · model-written summary
Elaphomycetaceae was more prevalent in rainforest and riparian zones.
Verbatim
e0“Boletaceae and Elaphomycetaceae are found to be more prevalent in rainforest and riparian zones”
t1“African vegetation types”
e7“EcM-associated tree species”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors infer that riparian areas may facilitate spread of rainforest endemic ectomycorrhizal taxa.
Verbatim
e0“Our findings highlight the corridor potential of riparian areas in facilitating the spread of these rainforest endemics”
t1“African vegetation types”
e7“EcM-associated tree species”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors suggest local soil and climate can override broad distance-decay patterns in African ectomycorrhizal community structure.
Verbatim
e0“local edaphic and climatic conditions can override broad spatial patterns, such as distance decay, in community structure of African EcM”
t1“African vegetation types”
e7“EcM-associated tree species”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors suggest a stronger effect of ectomycorrhizal host specificity than previously proposed.
Verbatim
e0“a stronger effect of EcM host specificity than previously suggested for African fungal communities”
t1“African vegetation types”
e7“EcM-associated tree species”
Claim · model-written summary
Over 80% of identified African Lactifluus species hypotheses were represented in herbarium collections.
Verbatim
e0“over 80% of identified SHs represented in our herbarium collections”
t1“African vegetation types”
e7“EcM-associated tree species”