Detection of forest stand-level spatial structure in ectomycorrhizal fungal communities

Erik Lilleskov; Thomas D. Bruns; Thomas R. Horton; D. Lee Taylor; Paul Grogan

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Detection of forest stand-level spatial structure in ectomycorrhizal fungal communities

Informally Refereed

Authors:

Erik Lilleskov, Thomas D. Bruns, Thomas R. Horton, D. Lee Taylor, Paul Grogan

Year:

2004

Type:

Scientific Journal

Station:

Northern Research Station

Source:

FEMS Microbiology Ecology. 49: 319-332.

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Abstract

Ectomycorrhizal fungal (EMF) communities are highly diverse at the stand level. To begin to understand what might lead to such diversity, and to improve sampling designs, we investigated the spatial structure of these communities. We used EMF community data from a number of studies carried out in seven mature and one recently fire-initiated forest stand. We applied various measures of spatial pattern to characterize distributions at EMF community and species levels: Mantel tests, Mantel correlograms, variance/mean and standardized variograms. Mantel tests indicated that in four of eight sites community similarity decreased with distance, whereas Mantel correlograms also found spatial autocorrelation in those four plus two additional sites. In all but one of these sites elevated similarity was evident only at relatively small spatial scales (

Keywords

Ectomycorrhizal fungi, spatial autocorrelation, spatial structure, community structure, mantel test, mantel correlogram, standardized variogram

Citation

Lilleskov, Erik A.; Bruns, Thomas D.; Horton, Thomas R.; Taylor, D. Lee; Grogan, Paul. 2004. Detection of forest stand-level spatial structure in ectomycorrhizal fungal communities. FEMS Microbiology Ecology. 49: 319-332.