Root-associated fungal communities along a primary succession on a mine spoil: Distinct ecological guilds assemble differently

The aim of the study was to explore fungal community assembly during spontaneous primary succession. Pyrosequencing was used to investigate the root-associated fungal communities of two dominant trees Salix caprea and Betula pendula along a primary successional chronosequence (12-, 20-, 30- and 50-year old sites) on a mine spoil bank in the Czech Republic. Ecological guilds were parsed to fungal OTUs and subsequent multivariate analyses revealed that communities of ectomycorrhizal fungi (EcMF), fungal plant pathogens (PaF) and fungal root endophytes (EndF) changed statistically significantly along the successional chronosequence. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) were very rare across all samples. EcMF and PaF communities were strongly related to the development of the entire plant community along the succession, while this relationship was much less pronounced for EndF communities. Early stage EcMF communities dominated by Pezizales were subsequently replaced by Thelephorales and Russulales in later successional sites. Positive correlation with site age was also found for EndF from order Helotiales. No significant differences were observed between the fungal communities of S. caprea and B. pendula in our study. We conclude that fungal taxa with tight ecological relationship to plants assemble with close feedback to plant communities, which change along the chronosequence, whereas communities of fungal endophytes develop more stochastically during the primary succession. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.