RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 Wild ungulate effects on soil fungal diversity in Mediterranean mixed forests
A1 Magarzo Manchón, Alba
A1 Olsson, Sanna
A1 Sanz Benito, Ignacio
A1 Mediavilla Santos, Olaya
A1 Oria de Rueda Salgueiro, Juan Andrés
A1 Villafuerte Jordán, Rafael
A1 Martínez Jauregui, María
A1 Martín Pinto, Pablo
K1 Deer
K1 Fungal composition
K1 Herbivory pressure and exclosure
K1 3106 Ciencia Forestal
K1 2511 Ciencias del Suelo (Edafología)
AB The effect of wild ungulate density on ecosystems varies according to different factors: climate and physiography conditions, forest type, management history, and herbivore identity. In this study, we evaluated the effect of historically high densities of red deer (Cervus elaphus L.) on the soil fungal communities in Mediterranean ecosystems using 30 paired plots, open on the one hand and exclosure plots on the other one. Plots were established at the end of 2020 in a perimeter-fenced hunting estate of 6600 ha in Toledo, Spain. Three months after plots were established, we analysed fungal communities in 60 soil samples using Illumina 250-bp paired-end sequencing. We estimated changes in total fungal richness and in the richness of trophic groups through Linear Mixed Effects models using fenced/unfenced type and deer habitat use as fixed variables and the location of the plots and the main tree host species as random variables. Fungal composition was analysed using non-metric multidimensional scaling and permutational multivariate ANOVA; edaphic characteristics were incorporated to explain differences. Soil fungal communities were not differentially affected by excluding ungulates for three months. Areas with high deer densities had a richer saprotrophic community and where lowland environments were dominated by the main tree hosts Quercus faginea and Quercus ilex. Arbutus unedo was found in mountain areas where there was less herbivore pressure, a greater richness of ectomycorrhizal and lichenized fungi and soils positively associated to nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and organic matter levels.
PB Elsevier
SN 0378-1127
YR 2024
FD 2024
LK https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/73057
UL https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/73057
LA eng
NO Forest Ecology and Management, junio 2024, vol. 562, 121928
NO Producción Científica
DS UVaDOC
RD 09-abr-2025