Title: Vertical niche differentiation of ectomycorrhizal hyphae in soil as shown by T‐RFLP analysis
Abstract:• Niche differentiation for different soil substrates has been proposed as a mechanism contributing to ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity. This hypothesis has been largely untestable because of a lack o...• Niche differentiation for different soil substrates has been proposed as a mechanism contributing to ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity. This hypothesis has been largely untestable because of a lack of techniques to study the in situ distribution of ectomycorrhizal hyphae. • We developed a technique involving soil DNA extraction, PCR and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis for species identification to investigate the vertical distribution of fungal hyphae in four distinct layers of the forest floor (lower litter, F-layer, H-layer, and B-horizon) of a Pinus resinosa plantation. • Fungal communities differed markedly among the four layers. Cluster analysis suggested six different patterns of resource utilization: litter-layer specialists, litter-layer generalists, F-layer, H-layer, and B-horizon species, and multilayer generalists. Known ectomycorrhizal species were found in all six clusters. • This spatial partitioning observed among ectomycorrhizal fungi along a single, relatively simple substrate-resource gradient supports the niche differentiation hypothesis as an important mechanism contributing to ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity.Read More
Publication Year: 2002
Publication Date: 2002-11-24
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 419
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