Project Details
Projekt
Drivers of recruitment and diversity in symbioses: Assessing changes in fungal, algal, and bacterial communities of the lichen holobiont along land use gradients
Subject Area
Microbial Ecology and Applied Microbiology
Term
from 2020 to 2024
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 433288364
Species interactions are subject to anthropogenic disturbances such as forest management. Forest features can impact local biodiversity and act as ecological filters on biotic interactions. Understanding these dynamics is important for predicting contemporary responses of ecological communities to land use change. Multi-species holobionts, such as lichens, are valuable study systems in this regard, because they closely band together diverse microorganismal communities including fungi, algae, and bacteria. However, it is yet unclear how the lichen holobiont summons its diversity from environmental pools of microorganisms; and how the lichen symbiosis may modulate specific environmental responses of individual holobiont components. Here we address the questions: How do environmental pools of microorganisms and the lichen holobiont interact? How do individual components of the lichen holobiont and their interactions with environmental microorganismal pools respond to changes in forest management? We will investigate the degree to which microorganismal diversity found in the lichen holobiont is nested within that of adjacent environmental pools (i.e. on bark and in soil). We will then model changes in diversity and biotic interactions under different levels of forest management intensity using all 150 forest EP plots of the Biodiversity Exploratories. Overall, this project will deliver insights into mechanisms and feedbacks characterizing recruitment of microorganisms into the lichen symbiosis. It will further shed light on the role of management practices in driving frequency and stability of biotic interactions among different microorganismal groups in forests.
DFG Programme
Infrastructure Priority Programmes
Subproject of
SPP 1374:
Biodiversity Exploratories
