Foliar fungal communities strongly differ between habitat patches in a landscape mosaic.
BACKGROUND
Dispersal events between habitat patches in a landscape mosaic can structure ecological communities and influence the functioning of agrosystems. Here we investigated whether short-distance dispersal events between vineyard and forest patches shape foliar fungal communities. We hypothesized that these communities homogenize between habitats over the course of the growing season, particularly along habitat edges, because of aerial dispersal of spores.


METHODS
We monitored the richness and composition of foliar and airborne fungal communities over the season, along transects perpendicular to edges between vineyard and forest patches, using Illumina sequencing of the Internal Transcribed Spacer 2 (ITS2) region.


RESULTS
In contrast to our expectation, foliar fungal communities in vineyards and forest patches increasingly differentiate over the growing season, even along habitat edges. Moreover, the richness of foliar fungal communities in grapevine drastically decreased over the growing season, in contrast to that of forest trees. The composition of airborne communities did not differ between habitats. The composition of oak foliar fungal communities change between forest edge and centre.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that dispersal events between habitat patches are not major drivers of foliar fungal communities at the landscape scale. Selective pressures exerted in each habitat by the host plant, the microclimate and the agricultural practices play a greater role, and might account for the differentiation of foliar fugal communities between habitats.
BIOGECO, UMR 1202, INRA, Université de Bordeaux , Cestas , France.
Thomas
T
Fort
BIOGECO, UMR 1202, INRA, Université de Bordeaux , Cestas , France.
Cécile
C
Robin
BIOGECO, UMR 1202, INRA, Université de Bordeaux , Cestas , France.
Xavier
X
Capdevielle
SAVE, UMR 1065, INRA, ISVV, Université de Bordeaux , Villenave d'Ornon , France.
Laurent
L
Delière
BIOGECO, UMR 1202, INRA, Université de Bordeaux , Pessac , France.
Corinne
C
Vacher
Bioaerosols; Dispersal; Edges; Forest; Grapevine; Landscape; Phyllosphere; Selection