Succession of foliar fungi in a forest succession gradient

Understanding patterns and drivers of succession provides insight into the mechanisms that govern community assembly and are indicators of community resilience and stability. Endophytic fungi are important ecosystem members, but little is known about changes in endophyte communities across plant successional gradients. Here we compare the successional trends of woody vegetation with that of foliar fungal endophyte communities. Three tree species that were abundant across a tree successional gradient were sampled and the diversity and identity of the associated endophytic fungi was studied using an amplicon sequencing approach.