Diversity and Structure of Soil Fungal Communities across Experimental Everglades Tree Islands

Abstract

Fungi play prominent roles in ecosystem services (e.g., nutrient cycling, decomposition) and thus have increasingly garnered attention in restoration ecology. However, it is unclear how most management decisions impact fungal communities, making it difficult to protect fungal diversity and utilize fungi to improve restoration success. To understand the effects of restoration decisions and environmental variation on fungal communities, we sequenced soil fungal microbiomes from 96 sites across eight experimental Everglades tree islands approximately 15 years after restoration occurred. We found that early restoration decisions can have enduring consequences for fungal communities. Factors experimentally manipulated in 2003–2007 (e.g., type of island core) had significant legacy effects on fungal community composition. Our results also emphasized the role of water regime in fungal diversity, composition, and function. As the relative water level decreased, so did fungal diversity, with an approximately 25% decline in the driest sites. Further, as the water level decreased, the abundance of the plant pathogen–saprotroph guild increased, suggesting that low water may increase plant-pathogen interactions. Our results indicate that early restoration decisions can have long-term consequences for fungal community composition and function and suggest that a drier future in the Everglades could reduce fungal diversity on imperiled tree islands.

Hydrology shapes microbial communities and microbiome‐mediated growth of an Everglades tree island species

“…We note that there is growing evidence that these hidden players should be considered at all stages of restoration from restoration site preparation to management post‐restoration (Wubs et al 2016; Docherty & Gutknecht 2019; Smith et al 2021). For instance, for the Everglades tree islands, we have previously found that site preparation techniques can have enduring effects on the soil microbiome even 15 years after restoration has occurred (Almeida et al 2020). Our study demonstrates that the hydrological maintenance of restored tree island sites could alter prokaryotic communities and their productivity effects on key plant taxa.…”

“…Ficus aurea , like many other Ficus species, also provides food for seed dispersers such as nesting vulnerable white crowned pigeons (Bancroft et al 2000; Kuaraksa et al 2012). Previous survey of microbial communities on tree islands found that microbial diversity and composition in field collected soils were affected by local water levels (Almeida et al 2020). Given these findings and the important role microbes play in plant performance, we hypothesized that management that alters water levels would change the soil microbial communities with cascading effects on F. aurea growth.…”

Soil Biological Community and Chemical Characteristics of Evergreen and Deciduous Shrub Islands in an Alpine Shrub Meadow

“…Vector A of the control site was higher than the values of the two shrub islands, showing that the phosphorus limitation pressure in the control site was greater than that in the soil under the shrub islands, which is closely related to the regulation of soil formation and fixation of nutrients by soil animals and microorganisms (Moorhead et al, 2016;Almeida et al, 2020). The CBH/PPO ratio in the RL shrub island was higher than that in the SR shrub island, according to the definition of Sinsabaugh (Sinsabaugh et al, 2011;Takriti et al, 2018).…”

Fungal Diversity

“…Their study highlights the prevalence of pathogens accumulating in the tissues of invasive species. Almeida et al [3] studied the soil fungal diversity on restored tree islands in the Florida Everglades. The tree islands are surrounded by grassy wetlands and serve as habitat for many plants and animals.…”