The rich and the sensitive: Diverse fungal communities change functionally with the warming Arctic

• Published in: Molecular Ecology
• Main Authors: Jumpponen, Ari, Brown, Shawn P.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: University of Memphis Digital Commons 2014
• Subjects: climate change; community ecology; environmental DNA; fungi; Biology; Arctic; Climate change
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/facpubs/1079; https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.12805

Fungi are very abundant and functionally pivotal in Arctic terrestrial ecosystems. Yet, our understanding of their community composition, diversity and particularly their environmental drivers is superficial at the very best. In this issue of Molecular Ecology, Timling et al. () describe perhaps one of the most comprehensive and geographically ambitious molecular studies on Arctic fungal communities to date. The results highlight the potential sensitivity of the fungal communities to plant communities, environmental conditions and therefore to environmental change. Thus, these studies lay a foundation to educated speculation on the fungal community migration northwards as a result of predicted climate change. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.