Ecological role of fungal infections of moss carpet in Svalbard (scientific paper)

• Main Authors: Tamotsu Hoshino, Motoaki Tojo, Hiroshi Kanda, Anne Marte Tronsmo
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Bioscience and Chemistry Division, Hokkaido National Industrial Research Institute/Graduate School of Agriculture and Biological Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University/National Institute of Polar Research/The Norwegian Crop Research Institute 2001
• Subjects: Arctic; Svalbard; Ny-Ålesund; Longyearbyen; Barentsburg; Memoirs of National Institute of Polar Research; Ny Ålesund; Polar Research
• Online Access: https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=2404; http://id.nii.ac.jp/1291/00002404/; https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=2404&item_no=1&attribute_id=18&file_no=1

Moss vegetation plays an important role as a producer in the early stages of primary succession in the Arctic. Some fungi actively attack mosses growing in polar regions. We observed the ecological impact of phytopathogenic fungi in Barentsburg, Longyearbyen and Ny-Ålesund in Svalbard. Many fungal infections were seen in some kinds of moss colonies (Aulacomnium palustre, Sanionia uncinata, Straminergon stramineum and Tomenthypnum nitens), and pathogenic fungi formed moribund patches in the moss carpet. Higher plants and other mosses had invaded in those moribund moss patches. These findings suggest that phytopathogenic fungi play an important role in the pattern of succession in Arctic terrestrial ecosystems.