Aquatic hyphomycete diversity and identity affect leaf litter decomposition in microcosms

We conducted a microcosm experiment with monocultures and all possible combinations of four aquatic hyphomycete species, Articulospora tetracladia, Flagellospora curta, Geniculospora grandis and Heliscus submersus, to examine the potential effects of species richness on three functional aspects: lea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Oecologia 2006-04, Vol.147 (4), p.658-666
Main Authors: Duarte, S, Pascoal, C, Cássio, F, Bärlocher, F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alnus
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Articulospora tetracladia
Biodiversity
Biological and medical sciences
Biomass
Biomass production
Community Ecology
Complementary effect
Ecosystem
Ergosterol - metabolism
Flagellospora curta
Fresh Water
Fresh water ecosystems
Freshwater
Freshwater ecosystems
Freshwater fungi
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Fungal biomass
Fungi
General aspects
Hyphomycetes
Microcosms
Mitosporic fungi
Mitosporic Fungi - physiology
Mycology
Plant Leaves - microbiology
Sampling effect
Species
Species diversity
Species Specificity
Spores, Fungal
Stream functioning
Synecology
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Summary:We conducted a microcosm experiment with monocultures and all possible combinations of four aquatic hyphomycete species, Articulospora tetracladia, Flagellospora curta, Geniculospora grandis and Heliscus submersus, to examine the potential effects of species richness on three functional aspects: leaf litter decomposition (leaf mass loss), fungal production (ergosterol buildup) and reproductive effort (released spores). Both species richness and identity significantly affected fungal biomass and conidial production (number and biomass of released spores), whereas only species identity had a significant effect on leaf mass loss. In mixed cultures, all measures of fungal functions were greater than expected from the weighted performances of participating species in monoculture. Mixed cultures outperformed the most active monoculture for biomass accumulation but not for leaf mass loss and conidial production. The three examined aspects of aquatic hyphomycete activity tended to increase with species richness, and a complementary effect was unequivocally demonstrated for fungal biomass. Our results also suggest that specific traits of certain species may have a greater influence on ecosystem functioning than species number.
ISSN:0029-8549
1432-1939
DOI:10.1007/s00442-005-0300-4