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Forests
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The Role of Fungi in Tropical Forest Systems
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The Role of Fungi in Tropical Forest Systems

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Ecophysiology and Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 March 2018)

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Francis Q. Brearley

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Natural Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, Chester Street, Manchester M1 5GD, UK
Interests: plant–soil–fungal interactions; nutrient cycling; ecosystem ecology; tropical ecology; ecosystem disturbance and recovery
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fungi play key roles in tropical forest ecosystems as mutualists, saprotrophs and pathogens. In particular, their interactions with trees, as the main structural component in forests, can influence carbon and nutrient cycling and the maintenance of biodiversity. Mycorrhizal fungi can be key to improving plant nutrient uptake and accessing organically-bound nutrients. Although most tropical forest trees form arbuscular mycorrhizas, an important majority (e.g., Dipterocarps and some Leguminosae) form ectomycorrhizas—the differential impacts of these for tropical tree performance have received little attention. As recycling agents in forest ecosystems, fungi breakdown organic material, some of which is very complex such as lignin, and make it available for plant growth leading to a positive feedback mediated by such fungi. Finally, as pathogens, fungi can influence patterns of tree mortality in tropical forests that, again, has implications for tree growth and nutrient cycling and has also received attention under the aegis of the Janzen-Connell effect as a hypothesis for explaining high tropical tree diversity. The huge range of forest micro-habitats combined with favourable climatic conditions means that the diversity of fungi in tropical forests is high. The broad range of lifestyles noted above is coupled with similarly broad fungal morphological spectrum from microscopic yeasts to large mushroom-forming fungi and hence many possibilities for various ecological interactions including those that we know little about (such as endophytes). With this in mind, we welcome contributions on aspects of the role of fungi in tropical forests and particularly their interactions with trees and the implications of this for forest functioning and biodiversity.

Dr. Francis Brearley
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Basidiomycota
  • Ascomycota
  • Glomeromycota
  • Janzen-Connell effect
  • decomposition
  • mycorrhizas
  • pathogens
  • parasites
  • endophytes
  • soil
  • microbes

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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2900 KiB  
Article
Fungal Community and Ligninolytic Enzyme Activities in Quercus deserticola Trel. Litter from Forest Fragments with Increasing Levels of Disturbance
by Jesús A. Rosales-Castillo, Ken Oyama, Ma. Soledad Vázquez-Garcidueñas, Rafael Aguilar-Romero, Felipe García-Oliva and Gerardo Vázquez-Marrufo
Forests 2018, 9(1), 11; https://doi.org/10.3390/f9010011 - 23 Dec 2017
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4219
Abstract
Litter fungal communities and their ligninolytic enzyme activities (laccase, Mn-peroxidase, and lignin-peroxidase) play a vital role in forest biogeochemical cycles by breaking down plant cell wall polymers, including recalcitrant lignin. However, litter fungal communities and ligninolytic enzyme activities have rarely been studied in [...] Read more.
Litter fungal communities and their ligninolytic enzyme activities (laccase, Mn-peroxidase, and lignin-peroxidase) play a vital role in forest biogeochemical cycles by breaking down plant cell wall polymers, including recalcitrant lignin. However, litter fungal communities and ligninolytic enzyme activities have rarely been studied in Neotropical, non-coniferous forests. Here, we found no significant differences in litter ligninolytic enzyme activities from well preserved, moderately disturbed, and heavily disturbed Quercus deserticola Trel. forests in central Mexico. However, we did find seasonal effects on enzyme activities: during the dry season, we observed lower laccase, and increased Mn-peroxidase and lignin-peroxidase activities, and in the rainy season, Mn-peroxidase and lignin-peroxidase activities were lower, while laccase activity peaked. Fungal diversity (Shannon-Weaver and Simpson indices) based on ITS-rDNA analyses decreased with increased disturbance, and principal component analysis showed that litter fungal communities are structured differently between forest types. White-rot Polyporales and Auriculariales only occurred in the well preserved forest, and a high number of Ascomycota were shared between forests. While the degree of forest disturbance significantly affected the litter fungal community structure, the ligninolytic enzyme activities remained unaffected, suggesting functional redundancy and a possible role of generalist Ascomycota taxa in litter delignification. Forest conservation and restoration strategies must account for leaf litter and its associated fungal community. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Fungi in Tropical Forest Systems)
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1710 KiB  
Article
Physical Conditions Regulate the Fungal to Bacterial Ratios of a Tropical Suspended Soil
by Julian Donald, Sam Bonnett, Michael Cutler, Noreen Majalap, Pete Maxfield and M. D. Farnon Ellwood
Forests 2017, 8(12), 474; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8120474 - 02 Dec 2017
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4404
Abstract
As a source of ‘suspended soils’, epiphytes contribute large amounts of organic matter to the canopy of tropical rain forests. Microbes associated with epiphytes are responsible for much of the nutrient cycling taking place in rain forest canopies. However, soils suspended far above [...] Read more.
As a source of ‘suspended soils’, epiphytes contribute large amounts of organic matter to the canopy of tropical rain forests. Microbes associated with epiphytes are responsible for much of the nutrient cycling taking place in rain forest canopies. However, soils suspended far above the ground in living organisms differ from soil on the forest floor, and traditional predictors of soil microbial community composition and functioning (nutrient availability and the activity of soil organisms) are likely to be less important. We conducted an experiment in the rain forest biome at the Eden Project in the U.K. to explore how biotic and abiotic conditions determine microbial community composition and functioning in a suspended soil. To simulate their natural epiphytic lifestyle, bird’s nest ferns (Asplenium nidus) were placed on a custom-built canopy platform suspended 8 m above the ground. Ammonium nitrate and earthworm treatments were applied to ferns in a factorial design. Extracellular enzyme activity and Phospholipid Fatty Acid (PLFA) profiles were determined at zero, three and six months. We observed no significant differences in either enzyme activity or PLFA profiles between any of the treatments. Instead, we observed decreases in β-glucosidase and N-acetyl-glucosaminidase activity, and an increase in phenol oxidase activity across all treatments and controls over time. An increase in the relative abundance of fungi during the experiment meant that the microbial communities in the Eden Project ferns after six months were comparable with ferns sampled from primary tropical rain forest in Borneo. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Fungi in Tropical Forest Systems)
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Review

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10 pages, 1831 KiB  
Review
Emerging Forest Diseases: A Case Study of Greenheart (Chlorocardium spp., Lauraceae) and the Newly Described Fungus, Xylaria karyophthora
by Dillon R. Husbands and M. Catherine Aime
Forests 2018, 9(6), 365; https://doi.org/10.3390/f9060365 - 19 Jun 2018
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 5327
Abstract
Greenheart (Chlorocardium spp., Lauraceae) is one of Guyana’s most economically important timber species. It is a large evergreen canopy tree with desirable wood characteristics and no previously recorded pathogens. Recently, however, the fungal species Xylaria karyophthora was described from morbid Greenheart seeds [...] Read more.
Greenheart (Chlorocardium spp., Lauraceae) is one of Guyana’s most economically important timber species. It is a large evergreen canopy tree with desirable wood characteristics and no previously recorded pathogens. Recently, however, the fungal species Xylaria karyophthora was described from morbid Greenheart seeds found throughout central Guyana. For years, forestry stakeholders have postulated that the future of Greenheart in Guyana is threatened due to overharvesting. However, X. karyophthora may represent a new immediate threat to the Greenheart industry. The exact time of emergence of this fungus is unclear, although our examination of historical records indicates that it was sometime before 2000. In this review, we discuss the history of key silvicultural and mycological research in relation to Greenheart in Guyana and the threats to its production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Fungi in Tropical Forest Systems)
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