This article looks at the changes in endophyte communities in leaves of a single species of tree in different environments on Mauna Loa Volcano, Hawai’i. According to this article, the phyllosphere, or the surface and interior of leaves, is one of the least studied environments in the world (even though its area is approximately twice that of land surface!). The phyllosphere also happens to host an incredibly high number of fungal endophytes, as discovered by this study. Specifically, this study looked at operational taxonomic units (OTU’s), and determined that there were over 4,200 OTU’s present at the 13 study sites, all of which were found on the same species of tree, and within 80 km of each other. This richness in OTU’s represents roughly half of the number of OTU's found in a global study of indoor fungi-which is a huge amount of diversity! And all of this diversity was found on a single host species. Clearly, there is potential for a much higher level of fungal diversity than previously thought.
Aside from finding a huge amount of fungal diversity, this study also found that environmental variables are a factor in determining the fungal endophyte community of the phyllosphere. The environmental variables that were looked at were rainfall, elevation, and the age of the lava that the site/tree was located on. The study found that fungal endophytic communities were more similar with similar amounts of rainfall and elevation; thus communities correlated with these environmental variables. This finding is important for a number of different applications, including carbon fixation, community ecology, and climate change. Finding out more about how differences in temperature and rainfall will change the phyllosphere and how it functions could help us predict and understand yet another possible effect of climate change. Additionally, looking at the roles of these many different species of fungi in the phyllosphere community could help us design more effective solar sequestration methods.
If I wasn’t already betrothed to a PhD project looking at barcoding of benthic macroinvertebrates and biomonitoring of aquatic ecosystems, I would definitely be interested in looking at the fungal endophytic communities within the phyllosphere!
Natalie Stauffer
NB Zimmerman and PM Vitousek (2012). Fungal endophyte communities reflect environmental structuring across a Hawaiian landscape
Aside from finding a huge amount of fungal diversity, this study also found that environmental variables are a factor in determining the fungal endophyte community of the phyllosphere. The environmental variables that were looked at were rainfall, elevation, and the age of the lava that the site/tree was located on. The study found that fungal endophytic communities were more similar with similar amounts of rainfall and elevation; thus communities correlated with these environmental variables. This finding is important for a number of different applications, including carbon fixation, community ecology, and climate change. Finding out more about how differences in temperature and rainfall will change the phyllosphere and how it functions could help us predict and understand yet another possible effect of climate change. Additionally, looking at the roles of these many different species of fungi in the phyllosphere community could help us design more effective solar sequestration methods.
If I wasn’t already betrothed to a PhD project looking at barcoding of benthic macroinvertebrates and biomonitoring of aquatic ecosystems, I would definitely be interested in looking at the fungal endophytic communities within the phyllosphere!
Natalie Stauffer
NB Zimmerman and PM Vitousek (2012). Fungal endophyte communities reflect environmental structuring across a Hawaiian landscape
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