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The forgotten ecosystem engineers: community and functional ecology of pioneer wood decay fungi in the canopy of beech trees / Anna Rawlings

DOI (Published version): 10.23889/Suthesis.50898

Abstract

Dead wood is a vital, diverse habitat which contributes substantially to woodland ecosystem function and biogeochemical processes. The major original source of woody debris is to be found in the canopy in the form of dead attached branches. Such branches also provide major habitat for the pioneer wo...

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Published: 2018
Institution: Swansea University
Degree level: Doctoral
Degree name: Ph.D
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa50898
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last_indexed 2019-10-21T16:56:47Z
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spelling 2019-06-25T11:15:13.1561276 v2 50898 2019-06-21 The forgotten ecosystem engineers: community and functional ecology of pioneer wood decay fungi in the canopy of beech trees 2019-06-21 Dead wood is a vital, diverse habitat which contributes substantially to woodland ecosystem function and biogeochemical processes. The major original source of woody debris is to be found in the canopy in the form of dead attached branches. Such branches also provide major habitat for the pioneer wood decay community which is known to influence the assembly trajectory, and therefore functioning, of later successional stages through priority effects. Very little is known however about the pioneer community’s own structure and functioning. This thesis sets out to shine a light on these forgotten engineers of our woodland ecosystems. Natural pioneer communities in dead attached beech branches were examined through isolation techniques and Sanger sequencing. Community structure was found to be driven predominantly by physical characteristics of tree branches, including their diameter and the gradient of decomposition. Pure spatial factors played a lesser role, indicating that mycelial spatial configuration results predominantly from the influence of environmental gradients. No relationship was found between community diversity and branch volume indicating that community establishment is driven by a race for space in a highly homogeneous resource. Natural community function was examined using quantitative enzyme assays and untargeted GC-MS metabolomics. Laccase activity increase over the decay gradient suggesting development of an increasingly toxic environment. Untargeted metabolomics was applied to naturally decaying wood samples for the first time, highlighting a linear covariance of laccase activity with the metabolome. GC-MS metabolomics was also applied in combination with direct shotgun LC-MS/MS proteomics to experimental wood systems. There was considerable evidence that a variable temperature regime may enhance lignin degradation in Oudemansiella mucida compared with stable temperature. A clear priority effect was exerted on the proteome of Exidia glandulosa by earlier arriving species, but not by different temperature regimes, suggesting that biotic interactions may play a more important role in the pioneer community than previously thought. E-Thesis microbial ecology, ligninolytic fungi, spatial ecology, metabolomics, proteomics 31 12 2018 2018-12-31 10.23889/Suthesis.50898 A selection of third party content is redacted or is partially redacted from this thesis. COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University Doctoral Ph.D Swansea University 2019-06-25T11:15:13.1561276 2019-06-21T15:41:40.8815698 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences Anna Rawlings 1 0050898-21062019155339.pdf Rawlings_Anna_PhD_Thesis_Final_Redacted.pdf 2019-06-21T15:53:39.2170000 Output 3500723 application/pdf Redacted version - open access true 2019-06-20T00:00:00.0000000 true
title The forgotten ecosystem engineers: community and functional ecology of pioneer wood decay fungi in the canopy of beech trees
spellingShingle The forgotten ecosystem engineers: community and functional ecology of pioneer wood decay fungi in the canopy of beech trees
,
title_short The forgotten ecosystem engineers: community and functional ecology of pioneer wood decay fungi in the canopy of beech trees
title_full The forgotten ecosystem engineers: community and functional ecology of pioneer wood decay fungi in the canopy of beech trees
title_fullStr The forgotten ecosystem engineers: community and functional ecology of pioneer wood decay fungi in the canopy of beech trees
title_full_unstemmed The forgotten ecosystem engineers: community and functional ecology of pioneer wood decay fungi in the canopy of beech trees
title_sort The forgotten ecosystem engineers: community and functional ecology of pioneer wood decay fungi in the canopy of beech trees
author ,
author2 Anna Rawlings
format E-Thesis
publishDate 2018
institution Swansea University
doi_str_mv 10.23889/Suthesis.50898
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description Dead wood is a vital, diverse habitat which contributes substantially to woodland ecosystem function and biogeochemical processes. The major original source of woody debris is to be found in the canopy in the form of dead attached branches. Such branches also provide major habitat for the pioneer wood decay community which is known to influence the assembly trajectory, and therefore functioning, of later successional stages through priority effects. Very little is known however about the pioneer community’s own structure and functioning. This thesis sets out to shine a light on these forgotten engineers of our woodland ecosystems. Natural pioneer communities in dead attached beech branches were examined through isolation techniques and Sanger sequencing. Community structure was found to be driven predominantly by physical characteristics of tree branches, including their diameter and the gradient of decomposition. Pure spatial factors played a lesser role, indicating that mycelial spatial configuration results predominantly from the influence of environmental gradients. No relationship was found between community diversity and branch volume indicating that community establishment is driven by a race for space in a highly homogeneous resource. Natural community function was examined using quantitative enzyme assays and untargeted GC-MS metabolomics. Laccase activity increase over the decay gradient suggesting development of an increasingly toxic environment. Untargeted metabolomics was applied to naturally decaying wood samples for the first time, highlighting a linear covariance of laccase activity with the metabolome. GC-MS metabolomics was also applied in combination with direct shotgun LC-MS/MS proteomics to experimental wood systems. There was considerable evidence that a variable temperature regime may enhance lignin degradation in Oudemansiella mucida compared with stable temperature. A clear priority effect was exerted on the proteome of Exidia glandulosa by earlier arriving species, but not by different temperature regimes, suggesting that biotic interactions may play a more important role in the pioneer community than previously thought.
published_date 2018-12-31T04:02:34Z
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score 11.012678

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