Assembly of complex plant–fungus networks

Hirokazu Toju (), Paulo R. Guimarães, Jens M. Olesen and John N. Thompson
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Hirokazu Toju: Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Sakyo
Paulo R. Guimarães: Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo
Jens M. Olesen: Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114
John N. Thompson: University of California

Nature Communications, 2014, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Species in ecological communities build complex webs of interaction. Although revealing the architecture of these networks is fundamental to understanding ecological and evolutionary dynamics in nature, it has been difficult to characterize the structure of most species-rich ecological systems. By overcoming this limitation through next-generation sequencing technology, we herein uncover the network architecture of below-ground plant–fungus symbioses, which are ubiquitous to terrestrial ecosystems. The examined symbiotic network of a temperate forest in Japan includes 33 plant species and 387 functionally and phylogenetically diverse fungal taxa, and the overall network architecture differs fundamentally from that of other ecological networks. In contrast to results for other ecological networks and theoretical predictions for symbiotic networks, the plant–fungus network shows moderate or relatively low levels of interaction specialization and modularity and an unusual pattern of ‘nested’ network architecture. These results suggest that species-rich ecological networks are more architecturally diverse than previously recognized.

Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6273

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