Identifying functional impacts of heat-resistant fungi on boreal forest recovery after wildfire ...

• Main Authors: Day, Nicola, Cumming, Steve, Dunfield, Kari, Johnstone, Jill, Mack, Michelle, Reid, Kirsten, Turetsky, Merritt, Walker, Xanthe, Baltzer, Jennifer
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2020
• Subjects: Mycorrhiza; Taiga plains; Boreal; Northwest Territories; Seedlings; extremophile; Canada; taiga
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6q573n5wf; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.6q573n5wf

Fungi play key roles in carbon (C) dynamics of ecosystems: saprotrophs decompose organic material and return C in the nutrient cycle, and mycorrhizal species support plants that accumulate C through photosynthesis. The identities and functions of extremophile fungi present after fire can influence C dynamics, particularly because plant-fungal relationships are often species-specific. However, little is known about the function and distribution of fungi that survive fires. We aim to assess the distribution of heat-resistant soil fungi across burned stands of boreal forest in the Northwest Territories, Canada, and understand their functions in relation to decomposition and tree seedling growth. We cultured and identified fungi from heat-treated soils and linked sequences from known taxa with high throughput sequencing fungal data (Illumina MiSeq, ITS1) from soils collected in 47 plots. We assessed functions under controlled conditions by inoculating litter and seedlings with heat-resistant fungi to assess ... : Fungi were isolated into pure culture from heat-treated soils that had burned the previous year. These were inoculated on to litter of paper birch and black spruce to assess decomposition (mass lost) under controlled conditions. Fungi were also inoculated on to roots of seedlings of paper birch, black spruce, and jack pine to assess impacts on biomass (grams after dried). Sanger sequences of cultured fungi were matched with that of sequences from high throughput amplicon sequencing (MiSeq Illumina) at 47 plots. In situ decomposition (mass lost) of black spruce and paper birch litter was assessed after 12 and 24 months from 5 litterbags 30 plots in the field 2-4 years after fire. Seedlings were counted in 3, 1 by 1 m quadrats per plot one year after fire at 47 plots. ...