Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Fungal Community Homogenization, Shift In Dominant Trophic Guild, And Appearance Of Novel Taxa With Biotic Invasion, Mark A. Anthony, Serita D. Frey, Kristina A. Stinson

Faculty Publications

Invasion by non-native plants may fundamentally restructure the soil fungal community. The invasive plant, Alliaria petiolata, produces secondary compounds suppressive to mycorrhizal fungi and may therefore be expected to have generally negative effects on other components of the fungal community. Here, we compared fungal biomass, diversity, community composition, and the relative abundance of fungal trophic guilds, along with edaphic properties of soils collected from uninvaded and invaded plots across six temperate forests. Invaded plots were differentiated from uninvaded plots by lower variation in fungal community composition (beta diversity) and soil properties, higher fungal richness and community evenness (alpha diversity), and …