Ecology and diversity of leaf litter fungi during early-stage decomposition in a seasonally dry tropical forest

Leaf litter samples of 12 dicotyledonous tree species (belonging to eight families) growing in a dry tropical forest and in early stages of decomposition were studied for the presence of litter fungi. Equal-sized segments of the leaves incubated in moist chambers were observed every day for 30 d for the presence of fungi. Invariably, the fungal assemblage on the litter of each tree species was dominated by a given fungal species. The diversity of fungi present in the litter varied with the tree species although many species of fungi occurred in the litter of all 12 species. A Pestalotiopsis species dominated the litter fungal assemblage of five trees and was common in the litter of all tree species. The present study and earlier studies from our lab indicate that fungi have evolved traits such as thermotolerant spores, ability to utilize toxic furaldehydes, ability to produce cell wall destructuring enzymes and an endophyte-litter fungus life style to survive and establish themselves in fire-prone forests such as the one studied here. This study shows that in the dry tropical forest, the leaf litter fungal assemblage is governed more by the environment than by the plant species. a 2015 Elsevier Ltd and The British Mycological Society. All rights reserved. Introduction Studies on litter fungi of tropical ecosystems are limited Microbial communities play amajor role in the decomposition of plant litter in terrestrial ecosystems. Fungi contribute substantially to this complex phenomenon of nutrient recycling in forest ecosystems as they elaborate an array of extracellular enzymes that deconstruct the different types of organic compounds in the litter (Baldrian and Lindahal 2011; Ţif c akov a et al. 2011) including lignocellulose which other organisms are unable to decompose (de Boer et al. 2005). T.S. Suryanarayanan). h Mycological Society. Al compared to those in temperate ecosystems (Sayer 2006; McGuire et al. 2012; Xu et al. 2013). Many studies on litter fungi in the tropics pertain to fungi occurring in the litter of individual plant species such asMaglielia garrettii (Promputtha et al. 2002), Magnolia liliifera (Kodsueb et al. 2008), Pandanus sp. (Thongkantha et al. 2008), Ficus sp. (Wang et al. 2008), Hevea brasiliensis (Seephueak et al. 2010), Anacardium occidentale and Pavetta indica (Shanthi and Vittal 2010a, 2010b). Most of the studies from India on litter fungi are concerned with