Diversity of soil culturable fungi in the tropical montane cloud forest of Veracruz, Mexico

Abstract

Background: Cloud forest is one of the most threatened ecosystems in the world and more than half of its original area has been transformed for other land uses. Consequently, macro- and microorganisms of this ecosystem have likely undergone changes. Objective: To analyze the diversity of saprobic filamentous soil cultured fungi in four cloud forest fragments and evaluate the similarity in species composition among fragments. Methods: To detect and isolate soil microfungi, the soil particle filtration technique was used. Emerging colonies were transferred to a culture medium for subsequent quantification and identification. For each species, permanent and semi-permanent slide preparations were made, and taxonomic identification was performed based on morphological features. Results and conclusions: From 20 soil samples and 2000 inoculated particles, 233 species were distinguished. The most common species were Myrmecridium schulzeri, Pestalotiopsis maculans, Trichoderma atroviride, Virgaria nigra, Trichoderma cremeum, Fusarium solani, Cordana terrestris, Aspergillus fischeri, and Penicillium olsoni. The most abundant species were Talaromyces flavus and Pestalotiopsis maculans. All the forest fragments had a high richness, diversity, and evenness in addition to a high turnover and high number of exclusive species.