Discussion
Foliar fungal endophyte communities did not display consistent patterns
of deterministic succession within individual host species, despite the
surrounding plant community undergoing deterministic successional
changes. Instead, host species identity was the most important factor
shaping community composition and richness patterns for endophytes. The
strong effect imposed by the host potentially limited the ability to
observe consistent deterministic succession patterns across the
successional gradient, i.e. BC size and its associated changes in
abiotic conditions.