title: Vertical stratification of the foliar fungal community in the world's tallest trees.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aboveground tissues of plants host numerous, ecologically important fungi, yet patterns in the spatial distribution of these fungi remain little known. Forest canopies in particular are vast reservoirs of fungal diversity, but intracrown variation in fungal communities has rarely been explored. Knowledge of how fungi are distributed throughout tree crowns will contribute to our understanding of interactions between fungi and their host trees and is a first step toward investigating drivers of community assembly for plant-associated fungi. Here we describe spatial patterns in fungal diversity within crowns of the world's tallest trees, coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens).
  
  
  METHODS
  We took a culture-independent approach, using the Illumina MiSeq platform, to characterize the fungal assemblage at multiple heights within the crown across the geographical range of the coast redwood.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Within each tree surveyed, we uncovered evidence for vertical stratification in the fungal community; different portions of the tree crown harbored different assemblages of fungi. We also report between-tree variation in the fungal community within redwoods.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest the potential for vertical stratification of fungal communities in the crowns of other tall tree species and should prompt future study of the factors giving rise to this stratification.
authors.affiliation: Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 North Virginia St., Nevada, USA joshuaharrison@unr.edu.|Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 North Virginia St., Nevada, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.affiliation: Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 North Virginia St., Nevada, USA.|Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 North Virginia St., Nevada, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Forister
authors.affiliation: Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 North Virginia St., Nevada, USA.|Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 North Virginia St., Nevada, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Parchman
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, 617 S. Beaver St., Flagstaff, Arizona, USA.|Center for Ecosystem Science and Society, Northern Arizona University, P.O. Box 5620, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA.
authors.forename: George W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Koch
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D002140:California; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D060026:Endophytes; D005658:Fungi / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology; D005843:Geography; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D056186:Metagenomics; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000382:microbiology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D032487:Sequoia / Q000382:microbiology*; D014197:Trees / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal
keywords: Illumina; Sequoia sempervirens; canopy; coast redwood; epiphyte; fungal endophytes; metagenomics; mycology; next-generation sequencing; phyllosphere