Water availability and the coprophilous fungus succession

Kuthubutheen, A.J.; Webster, John

doi:10.1016/s0007-1536(86)80118-8

Cited by 33 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Due to the highly localized dispersal of Sporormiella spores, a minor change in herbivore distribution may be reflected by a significant decline in spore deposition at a core site. Second, water availability is likely to play a major role in the germination and sporulation of Sporormiella (Kuthubutheen and Webster, 1986a, b), and therefore changes in local hydrology may result in ground conditions becoming too wet or dry for spores to be produced from dung. If conditions are sufficiently wet for water to pool, the dung substrate may disintegrate before the spores can germinate.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This means that sediment cores that show local changes in Sporormiella abundance contemporaneously with vegetation change may not necessarily imply regional extinction/introduction events. In addition, experimental studies have shown that water availability has a significant effect on the germination and sporulation of coprophilous fungi including Sporormiella (Kuthubutheen and Webster, 1986a, b), which suggests climate or local hydrological conditions could also affect Sporormiella records. The importance of further studies on the factors influencing Sporormiella records was highlighted recently by Feranec et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Wetland soil moisture complicates the use of Sporormiella to trace past herbivore populations

Wood

Wilmshurst

2011

J Quaternary Science

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Spores of the dung‐fungi Sporormiella provide a proxy for assessing past changes in herbivore abundance, and for temporally linking these with shifts in vegetation communities (pollen) and fire frequency (charcoal). Although the proxy is now widely used, potential influences of local environmental conditions are poorly understood. Here we assess the reliability of Sporormiella as a proxy of herbivores by presenting five new spore records from the South Island of New Zealand; a land where the herbivore extinction/introduction chronology is well established, and where extinctions occurred independently of major climate change. We show that Sporormiella spores from relatively dry soils provide a good proxy for herbivore extinctions and introductions. However, spore abundances from saturated soil sites appear to fluctuate in close correlation with changes in local hydrology (represented by wetland herb pollen, testate amoebae and moisture sensitive mosses). Our results suggest Sporormiella records derived from wetlands require cautious interpretation, and that proxies for hydrological conditions should also be considered when interpreting such records. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wetland soil moisture complicates the use of Sporormiella to trace past herbivore populations

Wood

Wilmshurst

2011

J Quaternary Science

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“…Similarly, Paleozoic coprolites often contain undamaged palynomorphs that may have passed intact through the digestive system of insects (Habgood et al, 2004;Labandeira, 1998). Coprophilous fungus can colonize and, subsequently, digest coprolites (Greif and Currah, 2007;Harper and Webster, 1964;Kuthubutheen and Webster, 1986;Salmon, 1901, 1902;Page, 1939;Richardson, 2002;Wicklow and Hirschfield, 1979). Duringer et al (2006) described the fungal gardens of Miocene termites; the first known fossil record of cultivation of fungus as a food source on fecal pellets.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Notes on the origin of inertinite macerals in coal: Evidence for fungal and arthropod transformations of degraded macerals

Hower

O’Keefe

Eble

et al. 2011

International Journal of Coal Geology

104

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“…Water availability and humidity will also have a significant impact on spore production, although experimental studies indicate that some Sporormiella spp. are more tolerant of both reduced moisture and humidity than observed for other genera (Kuthubutheen and Webster, , ). Wood and Wilmshurst () investigated the differences in spore frequencies and correlation to extinction events between wetland and relatively dry soil sequences in New Zealand.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 81%

What does the occurrence of Sporormiella (Preussia) spores mean in Australian fossil sequences?

Dodson

Field²

2018

J Quaternary Science

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Understanding the loss of the final few species of Australian megafauna is beset by a paucity of data on human arrival, well‐provenanced megafauna, human/megafauna population range and distribution (coexistence and interaction), and the range, scale and impact of environmental changes spanning the human–megafauna period. To overcome these shortcomings, the occurrence and decline of coprophilous fungal spores of Sporormiella in sediments have been used as a proxy for extinct megaherbivores. The Sporormiella evidence is presented as the key indicator of extinction timing and these reports are often from locations where there is no known archaeological record or megafauna remains. However, interpreting fungal spore occurrence is not straightforward, as demonstrated by studies investigating taphonomy, taxonomy and the types of animal dung where Sporormiella occurs. No detailed studies on these problems exist for Australia and no evidence supporting the use of Sporormiella as a valid proxy has been reported. Here we examine the occurrence of Sporormiella spores from Cuddie Springs in south‐eastern Australia. Despite a well‐preserved suite of megafauna fossils, Sporormiella occurrence is sporadic and frequencies are low. We conclude that using Sporormiella alone as an indicator for the presence of megafauna is premature for the Australian context.

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Water availability and the coprophilous fungus succession

Cited by 33 publications

References 15 publications

Wetland soil moisture complicates the use of Sporormiella to trace past herbivore populations

Wetland soil moisture complicates the use of Sporormiella to trace past herbivore populations

Notes on the origin of inertinite macerals in coal: Evidence for fungal and arthropod transformations of degraded macerals

What does the occurrence of Sporormiella (Preussia) spores mean in Australian fossil sequences?

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