0000000000603215
AUTHOR
M. A. Mclean
Microfungal community structure in anthropogenic birch stands in central Finland
We describe the soil microfungal communities in 30-year-old birch (Betula pendula Roth) stands planted either on former spruce forest soil (BS) or on former arable soil (BF) and compare these with the soil microfungal communities in spruce forests (S), arable fields (F) and old deciduous forests (D). Fungi were isolated from 0- to 3-cm and 3- to 6-cm samples collected in September 1997 and May 1998. Principal components analysis differentiated fungal communities in the S and BS sites from those in the other site types. The Morisita-Horn index of similarity indicated that fungal communities in the F and BF sites were less similar to those in the other site types. Fungal communities of the BS…
Temporal and spatial fluctuations in moisture affect humus microfungal community structure in microcosms
The effects of temporal and spatial fluctuations in moisture on the microfungal community were studied in birch litter plus pine humus microcosms over 6 months. Two treatments were used: a uniform treatment in which moisture was maintained at the original moisture content throughout the profile over the course of the experiment; and a fluctuating moisture treatment in which the moisture content of the whole microcosm fluctuated weekly around the original moisture content. At 6 months, fungal species richness was higher and diversity was lower under moisture fluctuations than under uniform moisture. The number of fungal isolates and proportional diversity was significantly higher in the bott…