Conclusions
This is the first study comparing community structure of fungi along elevation gradients in the Neo- and Paleotropics. Climate, particularly temperature, appears to be the driving factor shaping the distribution of fungi along elevational gradients in a variety of ways, e.g., by affecting microbial processes (e.g., decomposition), vegetation, and edaphic factors, and by altering species interaction dynamics. Montane forests are among the most vulnerable terrestrial ecosystems to climate change and warming will undoubtedly affect fungal communities in these ecosystems. Given the contrasting habitat preferences of several taxonomic groups and the possible functional differences among them within the broad functional guilds, future communities at a given site may differ considerably from current ones not only in composition, but also in functionality. Habitat specificity exhibited by many fungi offers possibilities for monitoring and habitat characterization and we advocate incorporating fungi in biodiversity assessments and conservation efforts. With the accumulating spatial data points for fungal taxa from metabarcoding studies, it will be possible in the near future to determine the climatic niches and model the suitable habitats for many fungi.
Acknowledgements
Financial support for the fieldwork was provided by E. Nouhra (SECYT Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, 26/11; 162/12; 124/13), Naturalis and Sabah Parks as part of the Kinabalu-Crocker Range expedition, and the National Science Foundation (NSF) GoLife grant (DEB 1541548) to F. Lutzoni. Molecular work was financed by a Naturalis Research Initiative grant to J. Geml and the above NSF GoLife grant to F. Lutzoni. The authors thank
staff members of all national parks, national reserves, provincial parks, and provincial reserves sampled in Argentina, Malaysia and Panama (listed in Table S1), the Panamanian Ministry of Environment in Panama, and Sabah Biodiversity Center and Sabah Parks in Malaysia for issuing access and export permits. The authors are grateful for the Fundación ProYungas in Agentina, the Panamanian Institute for Scientific Research and High Technology Services (INDICASAT-AIP) in Panama and Sabah Parks and Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) in Malaysia for providing logistical support during fieldwork, and for Marcel Eurlings and Elza Duijm (Naturalis) for conducting the Ion Torrent sequencing. J. Geml acknowledges support by the MTA-EKE Lendület programme (no. 96049) of the Támogatott Kutatócsoportok Irodája. The authors declare no conflict of interest.
[dataset] Geml J; 2020; Soil metagenome; DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank; KDPX01000000, KDPY01000000, and KDPZ01000000
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