Agaricomycetes of Ontario Tallgrass Prairies

This study provides the first characterization of the Agaricomycetes of Ontario tallgrass prairies, examines the influence of various environmental factors, and compares results of aboveground mushroom surveys with belowground high-throughput DNA sequencing. Soil samples were collected from tallgrass prairies across southwestern Ontario wherein Agaricomycetes were targeted by amplifying the D1 region of the large subunit (LSU) of rDNA and next generation sequencing was conducted on the Illumina MiSeq platform. Overall, community composition by abundance varied greatly across regions, though overall the Clavariaceae, Entolomataceae and Sebacinaceae were the richest in species. Spatial geography and site history (pristine remnant or restored from tillage) were important factors associated with community composition. The Hygrophoraceae and Clavariaceae were associated with remnants, and Minimedusa spp. associated with restored sites. The belowground method captured most of the minor clades found aboveground and several more unique ones. The aboveground method retrieved 74 species and the belowground method 256 OTUs, with only eight shared between them.