Distance from the forest edge influences soil fungal communities colonizing a reclaimed soil borrow site in boreal mixedwood forest
Date
2020
Authors
Ramsfield, Tod
Shay, Philip-Edouard
Trofymow, John A. (Tony)
Myrholm, Colin
Tomm, Bradley
Gagné, Patrick
Bérubé, Jean
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Forests
Abstract
Soil fungi are important components of boreal forest ecosystems; for example, saprotrophic
fungi regulate nutrient cycling, and mycorrhizal species facilitate nutrient uptake by plants. This study
aimed to assess soil fungal communities in a reclaimed area and an adjacent natural mixedwood forest
and to identify the distribution of taxa available for seedling colonization. Soil fungal microbiomes
were assessed along three transects (from 10 m inside the interior of the undisturbed forest to
40 m inside the reclaimed area) and in the roots of small aspen within the natural forest. Using
high-throughput deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequencing of internal transcribed spacer amplicons,
a total of 2796 unique fungal taxa were detected across fine roots, forest floor, and mineral soils
collected along the transects, whereas 166 taxa were detected in the aspen roots from the natural
forest. Within the interior of the forest, ectomycorrhizal fungi were more common, whereas in the
reclaimed areas, arbuscular mycorrhizae and saprophytes were more common. This survey showed
that natural areas of adjacent undisturbed forest can act as a source of ectomycorrhizal fungi for
dispersal into reclaimed areas. Notably, soil fungal taxa colonizing the root systems of small aspen
included species that are specifically associated with soils from the undisturbed forest (primarily
ectomycorrhizae) or the reclaimed clearing (saprotrophs and plant pathogens).
Description
Keywords
mycorrhizae, Illumina, land reclamation
Citation
Ramsfield, T., Shay, P., Trofymow, T., Myrholm, C., Tomm, B., Gagné, P., & Bérubé, J. (2020). “Distance from the forest edge influences soil fungal communities colonizing a reclaimed soil borrow site in boreal mixedwood forest.” Forests, 11(4), 427. https://doi.org/10.3390/f11040427