Impact of metal pollution on fungal diversity and community structures

Abstract

Summary The impact of metal pollution on plant communities has been studied extensively in the past, but little is known about the effects of metal pollution on fungal communities that occur in metal‐polluted soils. Metal‐tolerant ecotypes of the ectomycorrhizal fungus S uillus luteus are frequently found in pioneer pine forests in the Campine region in B elgium on metal‐polluted soils. We hypothesized that metal pollution would play an important role in shaping below‐ground fungal communities that occur in these soils and that S uillus luteus would be a dominant player. To test these hypotheses, the fungal communities in a young pine plantation in soil polluted with zinc, and cadmium were studied using 454 amplicon pyrosequencing. Results show that zinc, cadmium and soil organic matter content were strongly correlated with the fungal community composition, but no effects on fungal diversity were observed. As hypothesized, S . luteus was found to be a dominant member of the studied fungal communities. However, other dominant fungal species, such as Sistotrema sp., W ilcoxina mikolae and C adophora finlandica were found as well. Their presence in metal‐polluted sites is discussed.

Bibliographic Information