Seagrass‐associated fungal communities show distance decay of similarity that has implications for seagrass management and restoration

Ecology and Evolution

Joshua Zushi¹  Geoffrey L. Zahn¹  Benjamin J. Wainwright²  Danwei Huang²  Nicole Li Ying Lee²  Jillian Lean Sim Ooi³  Jen Nie Lee⁴ 

[1] Biology Department Utah Valley University Orem UT USA;Department of Biological Sciences National University of Singapore Singapore City Singapore;Department of Geography Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur Malaysia;Faculty of Science and Marine Environment University Malaysia Terengganu Terengganu Malaysia;

关键词: biodiversity;    biogeography;    conservation;    dispersal;    Enhalus acoroides;    marine fungi;   

DOI  :  10.1002/ece3.5631

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract Marine fungal biodiversity remains vastly understudied, and even less is known of their biogeography and the processes responsible for driving these distributions in marine environments. We investigated the fungal communities associated with the seagrass Enhalus acoroides collected from Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia to test the hypothesis that fungal communities are homogeneous throughout the study area. Seagrass samples were separated into different structures (leaves, roots, and rhizomes), and a sediment sample was collected next to each plant. Amplicon sequencing of the fungal internal transcribed spacer 1 and subsequent analysis revealed significant differences in fungal communities collected from different locations and different structures. We show a significant pattern of distance decay, with samples collected close to each other having more similar fungal communities in comparison with those that are more distant, indicating dispersal limitations and/or differences in habitat type are contributing to the observed biogeographic patterns. These results add to our understanding of the seagrass ecosystem in an understudied region of the world that is also the global epicenter of seagrass diversity. This work has implications for seagrass management and conservation initiatives, and we recommend that fungal community composition be a consideration for any seagrass transplant or restoration programme.

【 授权许可】

Unknown