Contrasting Patterns of Functional Diversity in Coffee Root Fungal Communities Associated with Organic and Conventionally Managed Fields
Elizabeth C. Sternhagen, Katie L. Black, Eliza D. L. Hartmann, W. Gaya Shivega, Peter G. Johnson, Riley D. McGlynn, Logan C. Schmaltz, Rebecca J. Asheim Keller, Stefanie N. Vink, Laura Aldrich‐Wolfe
Abstract
Rhizosphere fungi play key roles in ecosystems as nutrient cyclers, pathogens, and mutualists, yet little is currently known about which environmental factors and how agricultural management may influence rhizosphere fungal communities and their functional diversity. This field study of the coffee agroecosystem suggests that organic management not only fosters a greater overall diversity of fungi, but it also maintains a greater richness of saprotrophic, plant-pathogenic, and mycoparasitic fungi that has implications for the efficiency of nutrient cycling and regulation of plant pathogen populations in agricultural systems. As well as influencing community composition and richness of rhizosphere fungi, shade management and use of fungicides and synthetic fertilizers altered the trophic structure of the coffee agroecosystem.