title: Changes within a single land-use category alter microbial diversity and community structure: molecular evidence from wood-inhabiting fungi in forest ecosystems.
abstract: The impact of changes within a single land-use category or land-use intensity on microbial communities is poorly understood, especially with respect to fungi. Here we assessed how forest management regimes and a change in forest type affect the richness and community structure of wood-inhabiting fungi across Germany. We used molecular methods based on the length polymorphism of the internal transcribed spacers and the 5.8S rRNA gene to assess fungal operational taxonomic units (OTUs). A cloning/sequencing approach was used to identify taxonomic affinities of the fungal OTUs. Overall, 20-24% and 25-27% of native fungal OTUs from forest reserves and semi-natural forests became undetectable or were lost in managed and converted forests, respectively. Fungal richness was significantly reduced during a regeneration phase in age-class beech forests with a high level of wood extraction (P = 0.017), whereas fungal community structures were not significantly affected. Conversion of forests from native, deciduous to coniferous species caused significant changes in the fungal community structure (R = 0.64-0.66, P = 0.0001) and could reduce fungal richness (P < 0.05) which may depend on which coniferous species was introduced. Our results showed that Ascocoryne cylichnium, Armillaria sp., Exophiala moniliae, Hyphodontia subalutacea and Fomes fomentarius, all known for wood-decaying abilities were strongly reduced in their abundances when forests were converted from beech to coniferous. We conclude that changes within a single land-use category can be regarded as a major threat to fungal diversity in temperate forest ecosystems.
authors.affiliation: UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Department of Soil Ecology, Theodor-Lieser-Str. 4, D-06120 Halle (Saale), Germany; Technical University of Munich, Chair for Soil Science, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, D-85758 Oberschleissheim, Germany. Electronic address: witoon.purahong@ufz.de.
authors.forename: Witoon
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Purahong
authors.affiliation: UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Department of Soil Ecology, Theodor-Lieser-Str. 4, D-06120 Halle (Saale), Germany; University of Freiburg, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, Chair of Silviculture, Tennenbacherstr. 4, D-79085 Freiburg i. Brsg., Germany.
authors.forename: Björn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hoppe
authors.affiliation: University of Freiburg, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, Chair of Silviculture, Tennenbacherstr. 4, D-79085 Freiburg i. Brsg., Germany.
authors.forename: Tiemo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kahl
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz Zentrum München, Research Unit for Environmental Genomics, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, D-85758 Oberschleissheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schloter
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Hans-Knöll-Str. 10, D-07745 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Ernst-Detlef
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Schulze
authors.affiliation: University of Freiburg, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, Chair of Silviculture, Tennenbacherstr. 4, D-79085 Freiburg i. Brsg., Germany.
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bauhus
authors.affiliation: UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Department of Soil Ecology, Theodor-Lieser-Str. 4, D-06120 Halle (Saale), Germany; University of Leipzig, Institute of Biology, Johannisallee 21-23, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany; German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Buscot
authors.affiliation: UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Department of Soil Ecology, Theodor-Lieser-Str. 4, D-06120 Halle (Saale), Germany. Electronic address: dirk.krueger@ufz.de.
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Krüger
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D016468:Forestry / Q000379:methods; D065928:Forests; D005658:Fungi / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D005858:Germany; D012331:RNA, Fungal; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal; D014934:Wood / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D012331:RNA, Fungal; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal
keywords: Biodiversity; Changes within land-use category; Forest conversion; Forest management; Fungal diversity; Land-use