Diversity and ecology of epigeous ectomycorrhizal macrofungal assemblages in a native wet eucalypt forest in Tasmania, Australia

This paper investigates the diversity and ecology of the epigeous ectomycorrhizal (EcM) fungal assemblages of four plots in native Eucalyptus obliqua forest in Tasmania at different ages of regeneration since the natural disturbance of wildfire. From fortnightly visits to 1 ha of forest over a period of 14 months, 331 EcM species were documented. The family Cortinariaceae (particularly the genus Cortinarius) dominated the EcM communities, with the youngest plot (72 yr since the last wildfire) having the greatest number of EcM species. Each plot was divided up into 25 10 × 10 m subplots, and both unconstrained and constrained ordination procedures showed a significant association between the woody perennial plant community of the subplots and their EcM assemblages, reflecting the co-variation of plant and fungal communities. The study provides benchmark knowledge of EcM communities in a specific forest type in Tasmania, serving as a good basis for further studies in those forests and in similar forest types elsewhere.