@article{db32cf446b18464b91dd3a0597abf99b,
title = "Communities of fungal endophytes in tropical forest grasses: Highly diverse host- and habitat generalists characterized by strong spatial structure",
abstract = "Plant-symbiotic fungi influence the structure and function of all terrestrial ecosystems, but factors shaping their distributions in time and space are rarely well understood. Grasses (Poaceae), which first arose and diversified in tropical forests, harbor diverse but little-studied endophytes in the lowland forests of Panama. We used sequence data for 402 isolates from two sampling years, 11 host species, and 55 microsites at Barro Colorado Island, Panama to investigate the influence of host and habitat (soil type, forest age) in shaping endophyte diversity and composition. In contrast to previous studies, we found no evidence for host- or habitat specificity. Instead, endophytes demonstrated strong spatial structure consistent with dispersal limitation, with community similarity decaying markedly over a scale of hundreds of meters. Spatial structure that is independent of host species and habitat reveals remarkable heterogeneity of endophyte-host associations at small geographic scales and adds an important spatial component to extrapolative estimates of fungal diversity.",
keywords = "Barro colorado island, Biodiversity, Community assembly, Fungal endophytes, Poaceae, Similarity, Tropical forest",
author = "Higgins, {K. Lindsay} and Arnold, {A. Elizabeth} and Coley, {Phyllis D.} and Kursar, {Thomas A.}",
note = "Funding Information: We thank the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute for logistical support; Panama's Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente (ANAM) for permission to conduct this research and export samples for molecular analysis; M. Gunatilaka, M. Hoffman, J. U'Ren, D. Kandalepas, D. Mahana, and the Arnold lab group at the University of Arizona for technical assistance and/or comments on the manuscript; J. U'Ren for scriptwriting; F. Adler and D. Feener for guidance and statistical advice; F. Adler for critical evaluation of the manuscript; R. J. Steidl for insightful discussion; and the organizers of the {\textquoteleft}Secret World of Endophytes{\textquoteright} symposium at the 9th International Mycological Congress (IMC9), James White and Barbara Schulz, for the opportunity to submit this paper. We gratefully acknowledge funding from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (Ernst Mayr Short-Term Fellowship, KLH), a Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research (KLH), the Garden Club of America Anne S. Chatham Fellowship in Medicinal Botany (KLH), the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (University of Arizona; AEA), the organizing committee of IMC9 , NSF DEB-0234936 (TAK and PDC), and NSF DEB-0640996 (AEA). This paper fulfills a portion of the MS requirements for KLH at the University of Utah. All work complied with the laws of Panama and ANAM.",
year = "2014",
doi = "10.1016/j.funeco.2013.12.005",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "8",
pages = "1--11",
journal = "Fungal Ecology",
issn = "1754-5048",
publisher = "Elsevier BV",
number = "1",
}