Long-lasting modification of soil fungal diversity associated with the introduction of rabbits to a remote sub-Antarctic archipelago.
During the late nineteenth century, Europeans introduced rabbits to many of the sub-Antarctic islands, environments that prior to this had been devoid of mammalian herbivores. The impacts of rabbits on indigenous ecosystems are well studied; notably, they cause dramatic changes in plant communities and promote soil erosion. However, the responses of fungal communities to such biotic disturbances remain unexplored. We used metabarcoding of soil extracellular DNA to assess the diversity of plant and fungal communities at sites on the sub-Antarctic Kerguelen Islands with contrasting histories of disturbance by rabbits. Our results suggest that on these islands, the simplification of plant communities and increased erosion resulting from the introduction of rabbits have driven compositional changes, including diversity reductions, in indigenous soil fungal communities. Moreover, there is no indication of recovery at sites from which rabbits were removed 20 years ago. These results imply that introduced herbivores have long-lasting and multifaceted effects on fungal biodiversity as well as highlight the low resiliency of sub-Antarctic ecosystems.
LECA, Université de Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble 38000, France LECA, CNRS, Grenoble 38000, France johan.pansu@gmail.com.
Johan
J
Pansu
Department of Natural Sciences, Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand Institute of Fundamental Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
Richard C
RC
Winkworth
UMR ECOBIO, Université de Rennes 1, CNRS, Rennes 35042, France.
Françoise
F
Hennion
LECA, Université de Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble 38000, France LECA, CNRS, Grenoble 38000, France.
Ludovic
L
Gielly
LECA, Université de Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble 38000, France LECA, CNRS, Grenoble 38000, France.
Pierre
P
Taberlet
LECA, Université de Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble 38000, France LECA, CNRS, Grenoble 38000, France.
Philippe
P
Choler
D000818:Animals; D000864:Antarctic Regions; D044822:Biodiversity; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D017753:Ecosystem; D005658:Fungi / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D060434:Herbivory; D058865:Introduced Species; D062312:Islands; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena; D011817:Rabbits; D012988:Soil Microbiology
Kerguelen Islands; environmental DNA; invasive species; metabarcoding; soil communities