Is diversity a buffer against environmental temperature fluctuations? – A decomposition experiment with aquatic fungi

Gonçalves, Ana Lúcia; Graça, Manuel A. S.; Canhoto, Cristina

doi:10.1016/j.funeco.2015.05.013

Cited by 20 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Thus, the sediments in suspension had detrimental effects on the dominant species present in control; as a result, other species that had already colonized leaf litter were released from the competition and grew better. Nevertheless, the total fungal biomass and decomposition of leaf litter by different fungal communities (i.e., different number and identity of AH species) seem to be similar across the different treatments sediments sizes, which may indicate a general functional redundancy among communities when exposed to different sediments sizes (as it was observed by other authors that tested the influence of other factors in microcosm experiments (Canhoto et al, 2013;Gonçalves et al, 2019a;Gonçalves, Graça, & Canhoto, 2015). In any case, the lack of more information on this specific issue does not allow establishing a general pattern about the effect that fine sediments impose on fungal biomass, sporulation rate, and structure of fungal assemblages in decaying leaf litter in freshwaters.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 59%

Functional redundancy in leaf‐litter‐associated aquatic hyphomycetes: Fine sediment alters community composition but hardly decomposer activity

Martínez

Lírio

Febra

et al. 2019

Internat Rev Hydrobiol

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The increase in the flow of fine sediments to the aquatic ecosystems (AH), as a consequence of human activities, is a widespread stressor that may alter the structure of biological communities and ecosystem processes. In this study, the effects of sediments (Ø < 2 mm) on the structure (biomass and composition) and activity (decomposer activity and sporulation rate) of litter‐associated microorganisms (mainly AH) were investigated. For this, leaf discs of in‐stream preconditioned Quercus robur were incubated in microcosms for 30 days under the influence of four different grain‐size (<2, 1–0.5, 0.5–0.063, and <0.063 mm) sediments kept in motion. Fine sediments barely altered microbial decomposer activity and did not affect fungal biomass. Meanwhile, the sporulation rate was enhanced by sediments’ presence, the results being grain‐size‐dependent, and the fungal community composition was affected by the presence of sediments, independently of grain size. These findings evidence the functional redundancy of microbial assemblages involved in leaf litter decomposition in freshwaters.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 59%

Functional redundancy in leaf‐litter‐associated aquatic hyphomycetes: Fine sediment alters community composition but hardly decomposer activity

Martínez

Lírio

Febra

et al. 2019

Internat Rev Hydrobiol

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“…In addition, along with increased mean water temperature, higher diel temperature oscillation, which is usually associated with climate warming, can also contribute to accelerated litter decomposition rate (Dang et al, 2009; Vyšná et al, 2014; Gonçalves, Graça & Canhoto, 2015). However, this was unlikely in this study, as diel temperature oscillation did not differ between warming and ambient treatments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combined effects of water temperature, grazing snails and terrestrial herbivores on leaf decomposition in urban streams

Xiang

Zhang

Atkinson

et al. 2019

PeerJ

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The decomposition of organic matter in freshwaters, such as leaf litter, can affect global nutrient (e.g., carbon) cycling. This process can be influenced by fast urbanization through increased water temperature, reduced aquatic diversity and changed leaf litter quality traits. In this study, we performed a mesocosm experiment to explore the individual and combined effects of warming (8°C higher and ambient), the presence versus absence of grazing snails (Parafossarulus striatulus), and intraspecific difference of leaf litter quality (intact versus > 40% area of Liriodendron chinense leaves grazed by terrestrial insects) on litter decomposition in urban streams. Litter decomposition rates ranged from 0.019 d−1 to 0.058 d−1 with an average decomposition rate of 0.032 ± 0.002 d−1. All the three factors had significant effects on litter decomposition rate. Warming and the presence of snails accelerated litter decomposition rates by 60% and 35% respectively. Litter decomposition rates of leaves damaged by terrestrial insects were 5% slower than that of intact leaves, because litter quality of terrestrial insect-damaged leaves was lower (i.e., higher specific leaf weight) than intact leaves. For treatments with snails, warming stimulated microbial and snail mediated litter decomposition rates by 35% and 167%, respectively. All combinations of treatments showed additive effects on litter decomposition except for the interaction between warming and snails which showed positive synergistic effects. In addition, neither temperature nor litter quality affected snail growth rate. These results imply that higher water temperature and the presence of abundant snails in urban streams greatly enhanced litter decomposition. Moreover, the effect of pest outbreaks, which resulted in lower litter quality, can cascade to aquatic ecosystems by retarding microbe-mediated litter decomposition. When these factors co-occurred, warming could synergistically interact with snails to speed up the depletion of organic matter, while the effect of leaf quality on litter decomposition may be diminished at high water temperature. These effects could further influence stream food webs and nutrient cycling.

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“…This lack of diversity effect suggests considerable functional redundancy among the tested AH species [52]. Assuming that species-specific conidial production is a reliable indicator of fungal activity on [50,51,[53][54][55]. AH colonies differed in shape and/or pigmentation among species and, within each species, between strains; the presence of salt seems to induce phenotypic changes in the colonies (i.e.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are fungal strains from salinized streams adapted to salt-rich conditions?

Gonçalves

Carvalho

Bärlocher

et al. 2018

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Is diversity a buffer against environmental temperature fluctuations? – A decomposition experiment with aquatic fungi

Cited by 20 publications

References 41 publications

Functional redundancy in leaf‐litter‐associated aquatic hyphomycetes: Fine sediment alters community composition but hardly decomposer activity

Functional redundancy in leaf‐litter‐associated aquatic hyphomycetes: Fine sediment alters community composition but hardly decomposer activity

Combined effects of water temperature, grazing snails and terrestrial herbivores on leaf decomposition in urban streams

Are fungal strains from salinized streams adapted to salt-rich conditions?

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