Abstract
ABSTRACT Aim Studies assessing large‐scale patterns of microbial diversity have predominantly focused on free‐living microorganisms, often failing to link observed patterns to established theories regarding the maintenance of global diversity patterns. We aimed to determine whether foliar fungi on two closely related grass hosts— Heteropogon contortus and Themeda triandra —display a commonly observed latitudinal gradient in species richness and determine whether host identity, energy (temperature and precipitation), climate seasonality, fire frequency and grass evolutionary history drive the observed patterns in species richness and composition. Location Paleotropical. Time Period Contemporary. Major Taxa Studied Foliar fungi. Methods Foliar fungal diversity was quantified from 201 leaf samples of T. triandra and H. contortus collected across the distributional range of these species. Mixed effects models were used to quantify patterns of diversity and their correlates among and within continents. Ordinations were used to assess drivers of composition. Results Foliar fungi displayed consistent latitudinal diversity gradients in richness. Energy was a strong driver of richness at inter‐continental and continental scales, while other factors had inconsistent impacts on richness among scales, hosts and guilds. Globally, richness was higher in regions of higher growing season temperatures and where hosts were present for longer periods. Composition was primarily structured by geographic region at the global scale, indicating that distance was a dominant driver of community composition. Within Australia, temperature and rainfall seasonality and the amount of growing season rainfall, were the dominant drivers of both richness and composition. Main Conclusions We find some support for the idea that foliar fungal species diversity is governed by the same factors as many macro‐organisms (energy availability and evolutionary history) at inter‐continental scales, but also that fungal diversity and composition in the highly seasonal continent of Australia were driven by factors that shape tropical grassy ecosystems, namely climate seasonality and fire.
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Claims 9
Claim · model-written summary
Foliar fungi displayed consistent latitudinal diversity gradients in richness.
- Taxon
- Heteropogon contortus and Themeda triandra
Heteropogon contortus
Themeda triandrae0 - Interactor
- Foliar fungie1other
- Outcome
- latitudinal diversity gradients in richnesse1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Heteropogon contortus and Themeda triandra”
e1“Foliar fungi displayed consistent latitudinal diversity gradients in richness”
Claim · model-written summary
Energy was a strong driver of foliar fungal richness at inter-continental and continental scales.
- Taxon
- Heteropogon contortus and Themeda triandraHeteropogon contortusThemeda triandrae0
- Treatment
- Energye2
- Outcome
- richnesse2
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Heteropogon contortus and Themeda triandra”
e2“Energy was a strong driver of richness”
Claim · model-written summary
Other factors had inconsistent impacts on foliar fungal richness among scales, hosts and guilds.
- Taxon
- Heteropogon contortus and Themeda triandraHeteropogon contortusThemeda triandrae0
- Treatment
- other factorse3
- Outcome
- richnesse3
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Heteropogon contortus and Themeda triandra”
e3“other factors had inconsistent impacts on richness among scales, hosts and guilds”
Claim · model-written summary
Globally, foliar fungal richness was higher in regions with higher growing season temperatures.
- Taxon
- Heteropogon contortus and Themeda triandraHeteropogon contortusThemeda triandrae0
- Treatment
- higher growing season temperaturese1
- Outcome
- richnesse1
- Direction
- highere1
- Setting
- Globallye1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Heteropogon contortus and Themeda triandra”
e1“Globally, richness was higher in regions of higher growing season temperatures and where hosts were present for longer periods”
Claim · model-written summary
Globally, foliar fungal richness was higher where hosts were present for longer periods.
- Taxon
- Heteropogon contortus and Themeda triandraHeteropogon contortusThemeda triandrae0
- Treatment
- hosts were present for longer periodse1
- Outcome
- richnesse1
- Direction
- highere1
- Setting
- Globallye1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Heteropogon contortus and Themeda triandra”
e1“Globally, richness was higher in regions of higher growing season temperatures and where hosts were present for longer periods”
Claim · model-written summary
Composition was primarily structured by geographic region at the global scale.
- Taxon
- Heteropogon contortus and Themeda triandraHeteropogon contortusThemeda triandrae0
- Treatment
- geographic regione4
- Outcome
- Compositione4
- Setting
- global scalee4
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Heteropogon contortus and Themeda triandra”
e4“Composition was primarily structured by geographic region at the global scale, indicating that distance was a dominant driver of community composition”
Claim · model-written summary
Distance was a dominant driver of foliar fungal community composition.
- Taxon
- Heteropogon contortus and Themeda triandraHeteropogon contortusThemeda triandrae0
- Treatment
- distancee4
- Outcome
- community compositione4
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Heteropogon contortus and Themeda triandra”
e4“Composition was primarily structured by geographic region at the global scale, indicating that distance was a dominant driver of community composition”
Claim · model-written summary
Within Australia, temperature and rainfall seasonality and growing season rainfall were the dominant drivers of foliar fungal richness and composition.
- Taxon
- Heteropogon contortus and Themeda triandraHeteropogon contortusThemeda triandrae0
- Treatment
- temperature and rainfall seasonality and the amount of growing season rainfalle5
- Outcome
- richness and compositione5
- Setting
- Within Australiae5
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Heteropogon contortus and Themeda triandra”
e5“Within Australia, temperature and rainfall seasonality and the amount of growing season rainfall, were the dominant drivers of both richness and composition”
Claim · model-written summary
Australian foliar fungal diversity and composition were driven by climate seasonality and fire.
- Taxon
- Heteropogon contortus and Themeda triandraHeteropogon contortusThemeda triandrae0
- Treatment
- climate seasonality and firee6
- Outcome
- fungal diversity and compositione6
- Setting
- Australiae6
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Heteropogon contortus and Themeda triandra”
e6“fungal diversity and composition in the highly seasonal continent of Australia were driven by factors that shape tropical grassy ecosystems, namely climate seasonality and fire”