Wildfire and fungal community
Metagenomic study of the effects of wildfire regime on the soil fungal community structure
We evaluated long-term effects of different wildfire frequencies on the structure and composition of soil fungal communities in an open maritime pine forest. Six years after the last fire event, the structure of soil fungal communities in stands subjected to short and long fire return intervals were analysed using both 454 pyrosequencing technology and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), and compared to the soil fungal community structure of an unburnt control stand. Although long-term effects of wildfire on fungal species richness were not detected, both fire return intervals had a significant effect on the structure and composition of the soil fungal communities. Wildfires induced a general shift towards the Ascomycota and favoured the abundance of pioneer fungal species and species that preferentially inhabit mineral soils, while differences in the occurrence of specific ectomycorrhizal fungal species indicated a significant effect of the post-fire vegetation cover on the soil fungal community. Whereas DGGE provided a rapid identification of the effects of wildfire on the soil fungal community patterns, the 454 pyrosequencing-based approach revealed the existence of a much larger number of species and allowed a more extensive characterization of the soil fungal community structures.