Amplicon Sequencing-Based Bipartite Network Analysis Confirms a High Degree of Specialization and Modularity for Fungi and Prokaryotes in Deadwood
Julia Moll, Anna Heintz‐Buschart, Claus Bässler, Martin Hofrichter, Harald Kellner, François Buscot, Björn Hoppe
Abstract
Deadwood is important for our forest ecosystems. It feeds and houses many organisms, e.g., fungi and prokaryotes, with many different species contributing to its decomposition and nutrient cycling. The aim of this study was to explore and quantify the relationship between these two main wood-inhabiting organism groups and their corresponding host trees. Two independent DNA-based amplicon sequencing data sets (fungi and prokaryotes) were analyzed via bipartite interaction networks. The links in the networks represent the interactions between the deadwood colonizers and their deadwood hosts. The networks allowed us to analyze whether many colonizing species interact mostly with a restricted number of deadwood tree species, so-called specialization. Our results demonstrate that many prokaryotes and fungi are resource-specific colonizers. The direct comparison between both groups revealed significantly higher specialization values for fungi, emphasizing their strong association to respective host trees, which reflects their dominant role in exploiting this resource.