Underground Explorers

Home to several endemic species, less than 10% of Paraíba's territory, in Brazil, is officially protected, including 6% of the Atlantic Forest and only 1.2% of the former Caatinga formation. Deforestation, mining, excessive extraction of forest products, fires, animal overload are some of the actions that have led to greater fragmentation and threatened the survival of restinga, fragments forestry and Caatinga enclaves in the state. Knowing the local fungal communities and how they are interrelated between various environments will allow us to identify potential taxa to be used in restoration strategies for areas already so affected. We propose three hypotheses: 1) ectomycorrhizal fungal community is higher in Caatinga enclave moist regions than in restinga and forest; 2) the composition of fungi in restinga soils is distinct from forest soils, with some parallels regarding more resilient species; 3) the Northeast restinga has a more diverse ectomycorrhizal community than South Brazil. This hypothesis will be tested using data obtained by the SPUN Grantee project led by Dr. Maria Alice Neves (How are mycorrhizae communities distributed in the mangrove, restinga and forest in Santa Catarina Island?). The data produced during this project will allow us to understand how the habitat determines the ectomycorrhizal diversity gradient and how soil communities are structured in these ecosystems. We also hope to provide a more complete overview of restinga fungal communities by combining data generated in two regions of the country. The development of this proposal will improve our understanding of communities by complementing previously conducted macrofungal taxonomy studies, as well as allowing the training of specialists in the study of mycorrhizae, promoting the formation of research groups focused on ectomycorrhizal diversity.