Invasive Herbivory Indicated in Lasting Modification of Soil Fungal Communities on South Georgia

Soil samples were collected from various sites across the island and underwent fungal metabarcode sequencing. The results indicated heterogenous fungal distrubutions which, although showing predomininantly saprotrophic and pathotrophic strategies, were linked with aboveground plant communities. There was a significantly lower mean fungal diversity in Barff peninsula, a region of the island with a previously high concentration of reindeer, which was not reflected elsewhere.