Linking molecular deadwood-inhabiting fungal diversity and community dynamics to ecosystem functions and processes in Central European forests

Fungi playvital roles in thedecomposition of dead- wood due to their secretion of various enzymes that break down plant cell-wall complexes. The compositions of wood- inhabiting fungal (WIF) communities change over the course of the decomposition process as the remaining mass of wood decreases and both abiotic and biotic conditions of the wood significantly change. It is currently not resolved which substrate-related factors govern these changes in WIF com- munities and whether such changes influence the deadwood decomposition rate. Here we report a study on fungal richness and community structure in deadwood of Norway spruce and European beech in temperate forest ecosystems using 454 pyrosequencing. Our aims were to disentangle the factors that correspondtoWIF community composition and to investigate the links between fungal richness, taxonomically-resolved fungal identity, and microbial-mediated ecosystem functions and processes by analyzing physico-chemical wood proper- ties, lignin-modifying enzyme activities and wood decompo- sition rates. Unlike fungal richness, we found significant dif- ferences in community structure between deadwood of differ- ent tree species. The composition of WIF communities was related to the physico-chemical properties of the deadwood substrates. Decomposition rates and the activities of lignin- modifying enzymes were controlled by the succession of the fungal communities and competition scenarios rather than fungal OTU richness. Our results provide further insights into links between fungal community structure and microbial- mediated ecosystem functions and processes.