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Data from: Host preference explains the high endemism of ectomycorrhizal fungi in a dipterocarp rainforest

Sato, Hirotoshi1; Lain, Ajuwin2; Mizuno, Takafumi1; Yamashita, Satoshi3; Hassan, Jamilah2; Othman, Khairunnisa4; Itioka, Takao1

Published Sep 13, 2024 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.k3j9kd5gs

Data files

Abstract

In this study, we aimed to assess whether host preference could enhance the endemism of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi that inhabit dipterocarp rainforests. Highly similar sequences of 175 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) for ECM fungi that were obtained from Lambir Hill’s National park, Sarawak, Malaysia, were searched for in a nucleotide sequence database. Using a two-step binomial model, the probability of presence for the query OTUs and the registration rate of barcode sequences in each country were simultaneously estimated. The results revealed that the probability of presence in the respective countries increased clearly with increasing species richness of Dipterocarpaceae and decreasing geographical distance from Lambir. Furthermore, most ECM fungi in Lambir were shown to be endemic to Malaysia and neighboring countries. These findings suggest that dispersal limitation as well as host preference are responsible for the high endemism of ECM fungi in dipterocarp rainforests. Moreover, host preference likely determines the areas where ECM fungi potentially expand and dispersal limitation creates distance–decay patterns within suitable habitats. Although host preference has received less attention than dispersal limitation, our findings support that host preference has a profound influence on the global distribution of ECM fungi.