Endophytic fungal community structure in a hemiboreal forest

In this study we used high-throughput sequencing (HTS) to compare the diversity and community structure of fungi inhabiting leaves, branches and trunks of Alnus incana and Corylus avellana growing at three hemiboreal forest sites. Our analysis revealed that tree organ is the main determinant of the structure of fungal communities, while the effects of host species and locality remained secondary and negligible, respectively. The structure of fungal communities in trunks was the most distinct compared to that in leaves and branches. Foliar fungal communities were more similar within than between individual trees, implying that certain fungi may grow through parts of the tree crown. The weak effect of locality compared to host organs and species identity suggests that the variation in fungal community structure in the aboveground parts of trees depends mainly on deterministic factors rather than dispersal limitation.