Data from: Reintroduction of locally extinct vertebrates impacts arid soil fungal communities

Introduced species have contributed to extinction of native vertebrates in many parts of the world. Changes to vertebrate assemblages are also likely to alter microbial communities through coextinction of some taxa and the introduction of others. Many attempts to restore degraded habitats involve removal of exotic vertebrates (livestock and feral animals) and reintroduction of locally extinct species, but the impact of such reintroductions on microbial communities is largely unknown. We used high-throughput DNA sequencing of the fungal internal transcribed spacer I (ITS1) region to examine whether replacing exotic vertebrates with reintroduced native vertebrates led to changes in soil fungal communities at a reserve in arid central Australia. Soil fungal diversity was significantly different between dune and swale (interdune) habitats. Swale fungal communities also differed significantly between sites with exotic or reintroduced native vertebrates. Several fungal operational taxonomic units (OTUs) found exclusively inside the reserve were present in scats from reintroduced native vertebrates, providing a direct link between the vertebrate assemblage and soil microbial communities. Our results show that changes to vertebrate assemblages through local extinctions and the invasion of exotic species can alter soil fungal communities. If local extinction of one or several species results in the coextinction of microbial taxa, the full complement of ecological interactions may never be restored.

外来物种已致使全球诸多区域的本土脊椎动物走向灭绝。脊椎动物类群的变迁还可能通过部分类群的协同灭绝以及其他类群的引入，进而改变微生物群落结构。诸多针对退化栖息地的修复举措，通常涉及移除外来脊椎动物（家畜与野生归化动物）并重新引入本地已灭绝物种，但此类重新引入操作对微生物群落的影响目前仍未被充分探明。
本研究依托澳大利亚中部干旱区一处保护区，通过对真菌内转录间隔区1（ITS1）开展高通量DNA测序，探究以重新引入的本土脊椎动物替代外来脊椎动物，是否会改变当地土壤真菌群落。研究发现，沙丘与丘间洼地（又称丘间地）生境的土壤真菌多样性存在显著差异；同时，丘间洼地的真菌群落在外来脊椎动物与重新引入本土脊椎动物的样地间同样存在显著区别。仅在保护区内检出的若干真菌操作分类单元（OTUs），可在重新引入的本土脊椎动物粪便中被检测到，这为脊椎动物类群与土壤微生物群落间建立了直接关联。
本研究结果表明，因本地物种灭绝与外来物种入侵引发的脊椎动物类群改变，能够显著影响土壤真菌群落。若某一或若干物种的本地灭绝，进而导致对应微生物类群的协同灭绝，则完整的生态相互作用体系或许永远无法得到恢复。