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Tropical Ecology and Conservation [Monteverde Institute]
Title
Changes in saprophytic fungal community structure in response to variations in moisture content
Alternative Title
Los cambios en la estructura de la comunidad de hongos saprofitos en respuesta a las variaciones en el contenido de humedad
Files
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Publication Date
August 2004
Abstract
This study examined community structure of fungal species on dead wood substrates of different moisture contents in Monteverde, Puntarenas, Costa Rica. Forty-five different samples of dead wood substrate were located in the cloud forest and sampled for abundance of fungi individuals and number of fungal morphospecies. Penetrability as a measure of moisture content, surface area, and percent of epiphytic and lichen cover were also recorded for each sample of dead wood substrate. A total of 42 morphospecies were found, with only three of them overlapping between hard and soft substrates. Significant negative correlations were found between penetrability and abundance of fungi individuals (r2= .251, p = .0005), as well as between penetrability and fungal diversity (r2= .217, p = .0013). The negative correlations suggest that there is a moisture barrier-a certain substrate saturation- beyond which fungal growth is restricted. The low rate of species overlap between hard and soft substrates indicates that there is a difference in community structure depending on moisture content. Esté experimento se centró en la sucesión de especies de hongos diferentes en los árboles muertos en Monteverde, Puntarenas, Costa Rica. Se encontraron 45 muestras de árboles caídos en el bosque nuboso y estos se examinaron para encontrar la abundancia de hongos individuales, números de morfoespecies, y diversidad. También se anotó la penetrabilidad, el área superficial, el porcentaje de la cubierta de epifitas y de líquenes para cada muestra de sustrato en los troncos caídos. Se encontró un total de 42 morfoespecies, con solamente tres de estas en traslape entre sustratos duros y sustratos suaves. Se usó regresiones simples para encontrar correlaciones negativas significativas entre penetrabilidad y la abundancia de hongos individuales, así como entre penetrabilidad y diversidad de hongos en cada muestra de sustrato. Las correlaciones negativas sugieren que hay una barrera de humedad más allá de la cual el crecimiento de la especies de hongo entre sustratos duros y suaves indica que hay una diferencia en la estructura de la comunidad dependiente del contenido de humedad.
Keywords
Fungi, Macrohongos, Epiphytes--Ecology, Epifitas--Ecologia, Species diversity, Diversidad de especies, Monteverde Biological Station (Costa Rica), Estacion Biologica de Monteverde (Costa Rica), CIEE Summer 2004, CIEE Verano 2004
Description
Student Affiliation: Department of Environment and Natural Resources, University of MinnesotaTwin Cities Born Digital
Subject: topical
Fungi; Macrohongos; Epiphytes--Ecology; Epifitas--Ecologia; Species diversity; Diversidad de especies; Monteverde Biological Station (Costa Rica); Estacion Biologica de Monteverde (Costa Rica); CIEE Summer 2004; CIEE Verano 2004
Genre
Reports
Holding Location
|Monteverde Institute MVI
Identifier
M39-00183
Recommended Citation
Gellings, Jessica, "Changes in saprophytic fungal community structure in response to variations in moisture content" (2004). Tropical Ecology and Conservation [Monteverde Institute]. 136.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/tropical_ecology/136
