Summary
Patterns and drivers of succession provide insight into the mechanisms
that govern community assembly and are indicators of community
resilience and stability, but are still poorly understood in microbial
communities. We assessed whether
the successional trends of woody vegetation are mirrored by foliar
fungal endophyte communities of three tree species that are abundant
across the woody successional gradient using a total amplicon sequencing
approach. Additionally, we test the relative contribution of host
identity, abiotic predictors, biotic factors, and spatial distance
between sites in predicting community composition and species richness
of endophyte communities. Unlike the woody community, endophyte
communities showed no consistent evidence of deterministic successional
trends. Host identity was the most important factors structuring fungal
endophyte community composition. Spatial distance played some role in
explaining differences in community composition, but effects of this and
other environmental variables were small and not consistent between
different host species. Much of the variation in endophyte composition
remained unexplained. Host identity was most important in predicting
endophyte richness. Although endophyte communities showed no
deterministic succession, community assembly was most strongly
influenced by host identity and spatial distance.