Fungal community composition predicts forest carbon storage at a continental scale.

Forest soils harbor hyper-diverse microbial communities which fundamentally regulate carbon and nutrient cycling across the globe. Directly testing hypotheses on how microbiome diversity is linked to forest carbon storage has been difficult, due to a lack of paired data on microbiome diversity and in situ observations of forest carbon accumulation and storage. Here, we investigated the relationship between soil microbiomes and forest carbon across 238 forest inventory plots spanning 15 European countries.

Fungal succession in decomposing ash leaves colonized by the ash dieback pathogen or its harmless relative .

Introduction: The ascomycete , originating from Asia, is currently threatening common ash () in Europe, massive ascospore production from the saprotrophic phase being a key determinant of its invasiveness.

Methods: To consider whether fungal diversity and succession in decomposing leaf litter are affected by this invader, we used ITS-1 metabarcoding to profile changes in fungal community composition during overwintering. The subjected ash leaf petioles, collected from a diseased forest and a healthy ash stand hosting the harmless ash endophyte , were incubated in the forest floor of the diseased stand between October 2017 and June 2018 and harvested at 2-3-month intervals.

The Effect of Environmental Factors on the Nutrition of European Beech ( L.) Varies with Defoliation.

Despite being adapted to a wide range of environmental conditions, the vitality of European beech is expected to be significantly affected by the projected effects of climate change, which we attempted to assess with foliar nutrition and crown defoliation, as two different, yet interlinked vitality indicators. Based on 28 beech plots of the ICP Forests Level I network, we set out to investigate the nutritional status of beech in Croatia, the relation of its defoliation and nutrient status, and the effects of environmental factors on this relation. The results indicate a generally satisfactory nutrition of common beech in Croatia.

The Native and the Invasive Are Similar in Their Necrotrophic Growth Phase in Ash Leaves.

The populations of European ash and its harmless fungal associate are in decline owing to ash dieback caused by the invasive , a fungus that in its native range in Asia is a harmless leaf endophyte of local ash species. To clarify the behavior of and its spatial and temporal niche overlap with the invasive relative, we used light microscopy, fungal species-specific qPCR assays, and PacBio long-read amplicon sequencing of the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region to examine fungal growth and species composition in attached leaves of European ash.

Defoliation Change of European Beech ( L.) Depends on Previous Year Drought.

European beech ( L.) forests provide multiple essential ecosystem goods and services. The projected climatic conditions for the current century will significantly affect the vitality of European beech.

European-wide forest monitoring substantiate the neccessity for a joint conservation strategy to rescue European ash species (Fraxinus spp.).

European ash (Fraxinus excelsior) and narrow-leafed ash (F. angustifolia) are keystone forest tree species with a broad ecological amplitude and significant economic importance. Besides global warming both species are currently under significant threat by an invasive fungal pathogen that has been spreading progressively throughout the continent for almost three decades.

Meteorological factors associated with the timing and abundance of Hymenoscyphus fraxineus spore release.

The ascomycete Hymenoscyphus fraxineus has spread across most of the host range of European ash with a high level of mortality, causing important economic, cultural and environmental effects. We present a novel method combining a Monte-Carlo approach with a generalised additive model that confirms the importance of meteorology to the magnitude and timing of H. fraxineus spore emissions.

The Relationship between Fungal Diversity and Invasibility of a Foliar Niche-The Case of Ash Dieback.

European ash () is threatened by the invasive ascomycete originating from Asia. Ash leaf tissues serve as a route for shoot infection but also as a sporulation substrate for this pathogen. Knowledge of the leaf niche partitioning by indigenous fungi and is needed to understand the fungal community receptiveness to the invasion.

The invasive forest pathogen Hymenoscyphus fraxineus boosts mortality and triggers niche replacement of European ash (Fraxinus excelsior).

Determining the impacts of invasive pathogens on tree mortality and growth is a difficult task, in particular in the case of species occurring naturally at low frequencies in mixed stands. In this study, we quantify such effects by comparing national forest inventory data collected before and after pathogen invasion. In Norway, Fraxinus excelsior is a minor species representing less than 1% of the trees in the forests and being attacked by the invasive pathogen Hymenoscyphus fraxineus since 2006.

Propagule Pressure Build-Up by the Invasive Following Its Introduction to an Ash Forest Inhabited by the Native .

Dieback of European ash, caused by the ascomycete originating from Asia, has rapidly spread across Europe, and is threatening this keystone tree at a continental scale. High propagule pressure is characteristic to invasive species. Consistently, the enormous production of windborne ascospores by in an ash forest with epidemic level of disease obviously facilitates its invasiveness and long distance spread.

Fungal diversity and seasonal succession in ash leaves infected by the invasive ascomycete Hymenoscyphus fraxineus.

High biodiversity is regarded as a barrier against biological invasions. We hypothesized that the invasion success of the pathogenic ascomycete Hymenoscyphus fraxineus threatening common ash in Europe relates to differences in dispersal and colonization success between the invader and the diverse native competitors. Ash leaf mycobiome was monitored by high-throughput sequencing of the fungal internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) and quantitative PCR profiling of H.

Tree mineral nutrition is deteriorating in Europe.

The response of forest ecosystems to increased atmospheric CO2 is constrained by nutrient availability. It is thus crucial to account for nutrient limitation when studying the forest response to climate change. The objectives of this study were to describe the nutritional status of the main European tree species, to identify growth-limiting nutrients and to assess changes in tree nutrition during the past two decades.