Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-12T22:01:29.204Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Host generalists dominate fungal communities associated with seeds of four neotropical pioneer species

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2008

Courtney G. Kluger ,
James W. Dalling ,
Rachel E. Gallery ,
Evelyn Sanchez ,
Cheyenne Weeks-Galindo  and
A. Elizabeth Arnold
Courtney G. Kluger
Affiliation:
Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
James W. Dalling
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
Rachel E. Gallery
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
Evelyn Sanchez
Affiliation:
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 2072, Balboa, Panama
Cheyenne Weeks-Galindo
Affiliation:
Pima College, Tucson, AZ 85745, USA
A. Elizabeth Arnold*
Affiliation:
Division of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
*
1Corresponding author. Email: Arnold@ag.arizona.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Most ecological studies of fungi associated with tropical plants have focused on the rhizosphere or phyllosphere of seedlings, saplings and adult trees (Augspurger 1983, 1984; Bell et al. 2006, Gilbert 2002, Gilbert et al. 2002, Husband et al. 2002, Kiers et al. 2000, Mangan et al. 2004). However, fungi also infect the seeds of tropical trees, reducing seed survival and potentially affecting adult distributions (Gallery et al. 2007a, b). Fungicide experiments have shown that fungal and oomyceteous pathogens are the major cause of seed mortality in the soil for a variety of tropical pioneers (Dalling et al. 1998, Gallery et al. 2007b, Murray & Garcia 2002), which depend on recruitment from seed banks to colonize gaps and other disturbances in mature forest (Alvarez-Buylla & Martinez-Ramos 1990, Dalling et al. 1997, Hall & Swaine 1980). Persistence in the soil prolongs exposure of seeds to infection by soil-borne fungi and is especially problematic for small-seeded species with thin fruit or seed walls (Baskin & Baskin 1998, Blaney & Kotanen 2002, Crist & Friese 1993). At present little is known about the host affinity of fungi associated with seeds of tropical trees, and consequently, whether seed-infecting fungi influence plant species coexistence through differential infection of, or effects on, potential hosts.

Keywords

AscomycotaBarro Colorado IslandCecropiadiversityendophyteshost specificitypioneer treesseed-associated fungi
Type
Short Communication
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 24 , Issue 3 , May 2008 , pp. 351 - 354
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

ALVAREZ-BUYLLA, E. & MARTINEZ-RAMOS, R. 1990. Seed bank versus seed rain in the regeneration of a tropical pioneer tree. Oecologia 84:314–325.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
ARNOLD, A. E. & LUTZONI, F. 2007. Diversity and host range of foliar endophytes: are tropical leaves biodiversity hotspots? Ecology 88:541–549.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
ARNOLD, A. E., MEJÍA, L. C., KYLLO, D., ROJAS, E. I., MAYNARD, Z., ROBBINS, N. & HERRE, E. A. 2003. Fungal endophytes limit pathogen damage in a tropical tree. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 100:15649–15654.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ARNOLD, A. E., HENK, D. A., EELLS, R. L., LUTZONI, F. & VILGALYS, R. 2007. Diversity and phylogenetic affinities of foliar endophytes of loblolly pine inferred by culturing and environmental PCR. Mycologia 99:185–206.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
AUGSPURGER, C. K. 1983. Seed dispersal of the tropical tree Platypodium elegans, and the escape of its seedlings from fungal pathogens. Ecology 71:759–771.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
AUGSPURGER, C. K. 1984. Seedling survival of tropical tree species – interactions of dispersal distance, light-gaps, and pathogens. Ecology 65:1705–1712.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
AUGSPURGER, C. K. & WILKINSON, H. T. 2007. Host specificity of pathogenic Pythium species: implications for tree species diversity. Biotropica 39:702–708.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BASKIN, C. C. & BASKIN, J. M. 1998. Seeds: ecology, biogeography and evolution of dormancy and germination. New York, Academic Press. 666 pp.Google Scholar
BELL, T., FREKLETON, R. P. & LEWIS, O. T. 2006. Plant pathogens drive density-dependent seedling mortality in a tropical tree. Ecology Letters 9:569–574.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BLANEY, C. S. & KOTANEN, P. M. 2002. Persistence in the seed bank: an experimental comparison of native and alien plants. Écoscience 9:509–517.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CONNELL, J. H. 1971. On the role of natural enemies in preventing competitive exclusion in some marine animals and in rain forest trees. Pp. 298–312 in den Boer, P. J. & Gradwell, G. (eds.). Dynamics of populations. PUDOC, Wageningen.Google Scholar
CRIST, T. O. & FRIESE, C. F. 1993. The impact of fungi on soil seeds: implications for plants and granivores in a semi-arid shrub-steppe. Ecology 74:2231–2239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DALLING, J. W., SWAINE, M. D. & GARWOOD, N. C. 1997. Soil seed bank community dynamics in seasonally moist lowland forest, Panama. Journal of Tropical Ecology 13:659–680.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DALLING, J. W., HUBBELL, S. P. & SILVERA, K. 1998. Seed dispersal, seedling establishment and gap partitioning among tropical pioneer species. Journal of Ecology 86:674–689.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GALLERY, R. E. 2007. Seed banks, seed mortality, and the role of fungal communities in neotropical forests. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Illinois, Urbana.Google Scholar
GALLERY, R., DALLING, J. W. & ARNOLD, A. E. 2007a. Diversity, host affinity and distribution of seed-infecting fungi: a case-study with neotropical Cecropia. Ecology 88:582–588.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GALLERY, R. E., DALLING, J. W., WOLFE, B. T. & ARNOLD, A. E. 2007b. The influence of litter, seed bank density and fungi on Cecropia seed survival. Pp. 479–498 in Wescott, D., Dennis, A. & Schupp, E. W. (eds.). Frugivory and seed dispersal: theory and application in a changing world. Volume 4. CABI, Wallingford.Google Scholar
GILBERT, G. S. 2002. Evolutionary ecology of plant diseases in natural ecosystems. Annual Review of Phytopathology 40:13–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
GILBERT, G. S., FERRER, A. & CARRANZA, J. 2002. Polypore fungal diversity and host density in a moist tropical forest. Biodiversity and Conservation 11:947–957.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HALL, J. B. & SWAINE, M. D. 1980. Seed stocks in Ghanaian forest soils. Biotropica 12:256–263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HUSBAND, R., HERRE, E. A., TUNER, S. L., GALLERY, R. & YOUNG, J. P. W. 2002. Molecular diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and patterns of host association over time and space in a tropical forest. Molecular Ecology 11:2669–2678.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
JANZEN, D. H. 1970. Herbivores and the number of tree species in tropical forests. American Naturalist 104:501–529.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
KIERS, E. T., LOVELOCK, C. E., KRUEGER, E. L. & HERRE, E. A. 2000. Differential effects of tropical arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal inocula on root colonization and tree seedling growth: implications for tropical forest diversity. Ecology Letters 3:106–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LEIGH, E. G., RAND, A. S. & WINDSOR, D. M. 1996. The ecology of a tropical forest: seasonal rhythms and long term changes. Smithsonian Institute Press, Washington, DC. 503 pp.Google Scholar
MANGAN, S. A., EOM, A. H., ADLER, G. H., YAVITT, J. B. & HERRE, E. A. 2004. Diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi across a fragmented forest in Panama: insular spore communities differ from mainland communities. Oecologia 141:687–700.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MURRAY, K. G. & GARCIA, M. 2002. Contributions of seed dispersal to recruitment limitation in a Costa Rican cloud forest. Pp. 323–338 in Levey, D. J., Silva, W. R. & Galetti, M. (eds.). Seed dispersal and frugivory: ecology, evolution and conservation. CABI,Wallingford.Google Scholar
SHORTT, B. J., SINCLAIR, J. B., HELM, C. G., JEFFORDS, M. R. & KOGAN, M. 1982. Soybean seed quality losses associated with bean leaf beetles and Alternaria tenuissima. Phytopathology 72:615–618.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Kluger appendix 1

Kluger appendix 1

Download Kluger appendix 1(File)
File 33.3 KB
Supplementary material: File

Kluger Appendix 2

Kluger Appendix 2

Download Kluger Appendix 2(File)
File 332.3 KB