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Fulltext Changes in richness and community composition of ectomycorrhizal fungi among altitudinal vegetation types on Mount Kinabalu in Borneo

Geml J, Morgado LN, Semenova-Nelsen TA, Schilthuizen M

New Phytol, 2017 Jul;215(1):454-468.
PMID: 28401981 DOI: 10.1111/nph.14566

The distribution patterns of tropical ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi along altitudinal gradients remain largely unknown. Furthermore, despite being an iconic site for biodiversity research, virtually nothing is known about the diversity and spatial patterns of fungi on Mt Kinabalu and neighbouring mountain ranges. We carried out deep DNA sequencing of soil samples collected between 425 and 4000 m above sea level to compare richness and community composition of ECM fungi among altitudinal forest types in Borneo. In addition, we tested whether the observed patterns are driven by habitat or by geometric effect of overlapping ranges of species (mid-domain effect). Community composition of ECM fungi was strongly correlated with elevation. In most genera, richness peaked in the mid-elevation montane forest zone, with the exception of tomentelloid fungi, which showed monotonal decrease in richness with increasing altitude. Richness in lower-mid- and mid-elevations was significantly greater than predicted under the mid-domain effect model. We provide the first insight into the composition of ECM fungal communities and their strong altitudinal turnover in Borneo. The high richness and restricted distribution of many ECM fungi in the montane forests suggest that mid-elevation peak richness is primarily driven by environmental characteristics of this habitat and not by the mid-domain effect.
Dispatch from the field II: the mystery of the red and blue Opadometa male (Araneae, Tetragnathidae, Opadometa sarawakensis)

Miller JA, Freund C, Rambonnet L, Koets L, Barth N, van der Linden C, et al.

Biodivers Data J, 2018.
PMID: 29674940 DOI: 10.3897/BDJ.6.e24777

Background: Males of Opadometa are difficult to associate with conspecific females, and sex-matching errors may persist in the taxonomic literature. Recommended best practices for definitive sex matching in this genus suggest finding a male in the web of a female, or better yet, mating pairs.
New information: A male Opadometa was observed hanging on a frame line of the web of a female Opadometa sarawakensis, a species for which the male was previously undescribed. This occurred during a tropical ecology field course held at the Danau Girang Field Centre in Sabah, Malaysia. A taxonomic description was completed as a course activity.
Community dynamics of soil-borne fungal communities along elevation gradients in neotropical and palaeotropical forests

Geml J, Arnold AE, Semenova-Nelsen TA, Nouhra ER, Drechsler-Santos ER, Góes-Neto A, et al.

Mol Ecol, 2022 Jan 26.
PMID: 35080063 DOI: 10.1111/mec.16368

Because of their steep gradients in abiotic and biotic factors, mountains offer an ideal setting to illuminate the mechanisms that underlie patterns of species distributions and community assembly. We compared the composition of taxonomically and functionally diverse fungal communities in soils along five elevational gradients in mountains of the Neo- and Palaeotropics (northern Argentina, southern Brazil, Panama, Malaysian Borneo and Papua New Guinea). Both the richness and composition of soil fungal communities reflect environmental factors, particularly temperature and soil pH, with some shared patterns among neotropical and palaeotropical regions. Community dynamics are characterized by replacement of species along elevation gradients, implying a relatively narrow elevation range for most fungi, which appears to be driven by contrasting environmental preferences among both functional and taxonomic groups. For functional groups dependent on symbioses with plants (especially ectomycorrhizal fungi), the distribution of host plants drives richness and community composition, resulting in important differences in elevational patterns between neotropical and palaeotropical montane communities. The pronounced compositional and functional turnover along elevation gradients implies that tropical montane forest fungi will be sensitive to climate change, resulting in shifts in composition and functionality over time.
Evolution of endemism on a young tropical mountain

Merckx VS, Hendriks KP, Beentjes KK, Mennes CB, Becking LE, Peijnenburg KT, et al.

Nature, 2015 Aug 20;524(7565):347-50.
PMID: 26266979 DOI: 10.1038/nature14949

Tropical mountains are hot spots of biodiversity and endemism, but the evolutionary origins of their unique biotas are poorly understood. In varying degrees, local and regional extinction, long-distance colonization, and local recruitment may all contribute to the exceptional character of these communities. Also, it is debated whether mountain endemics mostly originate from local lowland taxa, or from lineages that reach the mountain by long-range dispersal from cool localities elsewhere. Here we investigate the evolutionary routes to endemism by sampling an entire tropical mountain biota on the 4,095-metre-high Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, East Malaysia. We discover that most of its unique biodiversity is younger than the mountain itself (6 million years), and comprises a mix of immigrant pre-adapted lineages and descendants from local lowland ancestors, although substantial shifts from lower to higher vegetation zones in this latter group were rare. These insights could improve forecasts of the likelihood of extinction and 'evolutionary rescue' in montane biodiversity hot spots under climate change scenarios.