Distinct response of total and active fungal communities and functions
to seasonal changes in a semi-enclosed Bay with mariculture (Dongshan
Bay, Southern China)
Abstract
Increasing evidence suggests that fungal communities are key components
of biogeochemical cycles in coastal ecosystems. While several studies
highlighted strong spatial patterns in fungal abundance and diversity,
there are very few studies using a more integrative approach to study
the spatio-temporal distribution of fungi, taking also the active part
of the community into account. To better understand the consequences of
anthropogenic activities, e.g. marine aquaculture, for fungal community
composition and activities, we simultaneously evaluated the temporal
(four different seasons) and spatial dynamics in total (DNA) and active
(RNA) fungal communities in relation to several major physicochemical
properties. Fungal communities were highly diverse, but showed the
ubiquitous dominance of Dikarya and the occasional predominance of
Glomeromycota, Mucoromycota, Mortierellomycota, Chytridiomycota,
Mortierellomycota, Olpidiomycota, and Rozellomycota. Thereby, fungal
diversity indices showed a much higher seasonal variation than with the
degree of aquaculture activity, for both total and active communities.
This notion is supported by co-occurrence networks exhibiting a clear
seasonal pattern. Furthermore, fungal community structure in coastal
waters showed distinct relationships with environmental factors varying
both with season and in space. For both, total and active fungal
communities, a combination of environmental variables such as
temperature, DO and NO2- exhibited the greatest impact on community
structure. Our study demonstrates a distinct spatio-temporal dynamics of
both, total and active fungi and provides a foundation to better
understand the ecological roles of marine fungi in coastal ecosystems in
relation to mariculture activities.