Sarah Sapsford
Murdoch University
Sarah Sapsford is an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) Fellow. Her research focuses on the effects of disturbances such as disease, fragmentation, climate change and invasive species, on ecosystems. Specifically, she strives to understand interactions among plant hosts, beneficial fungi such as mycorrhizal fungi and plant pathogens, and how disturbances may alter these interactions. By using a combination of techniques, including molecular techniques such as high-throughput sequencing, she is currently examining the interaction effects of fire, drought and disease on both above- and belowground forest communities.
Abstract:
Pine invasion drives loss of soil fungal diversity. Is there a chance of recovery following pine removal?
Sarah J. Sapsford, A. Wakelin, D. A. Peltzer, I. A. Dickie
Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, Western Australia; School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
The
widespread co-invasion of non-native pine trees with their non-native
ectomycorrhizal fungi causes a loss of both aboveground plant diversity and
belowground soil fungal communities. The effects of pine invasions
on an ecosystem can also remain as legacies even after the plant species have been
removed. Our aim was to determine whether the below-ground legacies of
pine persist in an ecosystem and, if so, for how long. We also aimed to
determine whether removal of pine at a specific density exacerbates legacies.
We sampled soils across 22 sites on the South Island of New Zealand and extracted
and sequenced for fungi from each sample. We determined that legacies of pine
persist in the soil for quite a few years after pine removal. Specifically,
fungal species that are closely associated with pines, and are necessary for
pines to establish in an area, can remain in the soil for at least 5 years
after removal. It is possible these fungal species may be persisting on
scattered reinvading pine seedling or trees that were not completely killed
during removal. The persistence of these pine-associated fungi may allow future
reinvasion.