Ectomycorrhizal fungal communities associated with Carpinus betulus trees across urban areas of British Columbia
department or school: Science, Irving K. Barber Faculty of (Okanagan)
department or school: Biology, Department of (Okanagan)
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCO
creator: Hume, John
issued: 2022-03-17T16:44:12Z
issued: 2022
related degree: Master of Science - MSc
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: Despite diminished health and richness of ectomycorrhizal (EcM) fungal communities compared with those in undisturbed environments, the drivers of diversity in urban EcM fungal communities are poorly understood. Studies of diversity in mycorrhizal fungal communities often overlook fundamental ecological theories used to explain diversity in plant and animal communities. In this study, I used Illumina next-generation sequencing to characterize EcM fungal communities associated with a common urban tree species, Carpinus betulus, in three British Columbian cities, Vancouver, Victoria, and Kelowna. Species diversity was compared across the three cities and related to ecological theory to investigate mechanisms that modulate diversity. Furthermore, soil chemical properties were analyzed at each site to identify specific soil characteristics associated with changes in community structure. I found that gamma diversity of the fungal communities was not positively correlated with environmental heterogeneity, as would be predicted by the habitat-heterogeneity hypothesis. Community composition, however, was significantly distinct in each of the three cities. A small number of species were found to be indicative of fungal communities in each city. Soil chemical properties were significantly associated with changes in community structure, with soil acidity and nitrogen content being the primary associated variables. No significant correlations were found, however, between individual soil properties and the most abundant taxa. While more research is required to determine the driving forces of EcM fungal diversity, this study serves as an example of applying ecological theory to understand diversity in urban EcM fungal communities.
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/80968
note: ECTOMYCORRHIZAL FUNGAL COMMUNITIES ASSOCIATED WITH CARPINUS BETULUS TREES ACROSS URBAN AREAS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA by John Hume B.Sc., University of British Columbia Okanagan, 2019 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE in THE COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Biology) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Okanagan) February 2022 © John Hume, 2022 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the College of Graduate Studies for acceptance, a thesis/dissertation entitled: Ectomycorrhizal fungal communities associated with urban Carpinus betulus trees across urban areas of British Columbia submitted by John Hume in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science . Dr. John Klironomos, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science Supervisor Dr. Daniel Durall, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science Supervisor Dr. Melanie Jones, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Jason Pither, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Richard Hamelin University Examiner iii Abstract Despite diminished health and richness of ectomycorrhizal (EcM) fungal communities compared with those in undisturbed environments, the drivers of diversity in urban EcM fungal communities are poorly understood. Studies of diversity in mycorrhizal fungal communities often overlook fundamental ecological theories used to explain diversity in plant and animal communities. In this study, I used Illumina next-generation sequencing to characterize EcM fungal communities associated with a common urban tree species, Carpinus betulus, in three British Columbian cities, Vancouver, Victoria, and Kelowna. Species diversity was compared across the three cities and related to ecological theory to investigate mechanisms that modulate diversity. Furthermore, soil chemical properties were analyzed at each site to identify specific soil characteristics associated with change…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2022-05
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0407249
language: eng
degree discipline: Biology
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Klironomos, John
contributor: Durall, Daniel
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/80968