Experimental evidence of a symbiosis between red-cockaded woodpeckers and fungi

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dc.contributor.authorJusino, Michelle A.en
dc.contributor.authorLindner, Daniel L.en
dc.contributor.authorBanik, Mark T.en
dc.contributor.authorRose, Kevin R.en
dc.contributor.authorWalters, Jeffrey R.en
dc.contributor.departmentBiological Sciencesen
dc.date.accessioned2020-04-22T18:25:06Zen
dc.date.available2020-04-22T18:25:06Zen
dc.date.issued2016-03-30en
dc.description.abstractPrimary cavity excavators, such as woodpeckers, are ecosystem engineers in many systems. Associations between cavity excavators and fungi have long been hypothesized to facilitate cavity excavation, but these relationships have not been experimentally verified. Fungi may help excavators by softening wood, while excavators may facilitate fungal dispersal. Here we demonstrate that excavators facilitate fungal dispersal and thus we report the first experimental evidence of a symbiosis between fungi and a cavity excavator, the red-cockaded woodpecker (RCW, Picoides borealis). Swab samples of birds showed that RCWs carry fungal communities similar to those found in their completed excavations. A 26-month field experiment using human-made aseptically drilled excavations in live trees, half of which were inaccessible to RCWs, demonstrated that RCWs directly alter fungal colonization and community composition. Experimental excavations that were accessible to RCWs contained fungal communities similar to natural RCW excavations, whereas inaccessible experimental excavations contained significantly different fungal communities. Our work demonstrates a complex symbiosis between cavity excavators and communities of fungi, with implications for forest ecology, wildlife management, and conservation.en
dc.description.adminPublic domain – authored by a U.S. government employeeen
dc.description.notesFunding for fieldwork was provided by the US Department of Defense, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. Funding for the analysis of samples was provided by the Harold H. Bailey fund at Virginia Tech and the US Forest Service, Northern Research Station. Further funding for this work was provided by the American Ornithologists' Union, the Mycological Society of America, the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology and the Virginia Tech Graduate Research and Development Program. Further support for M.A.J. was provided by the US Department of Defense, Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (RC-1471 and RC-1413, Defense Coastal/Estuarine Research Program).en
dc.description.sponsorshipUS Department of Defense, Marine Corps Base Camp LejeuneUnited States Department of Defense; Harold H. Bailey fund at Virginia Tech; US Forest Service, Northern Research StationUnited States Department of Agriculture (USDA)United States Forest Service; American Ornithologists' Union; Mycological Society of America; Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology; Virginia Tech Graduate Research and Development Program; US Department of Defense, Strategic Environmental Research and Development ProgramUnited States Department of Defense [RC-1471, RC-1413]en
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.0106en
dc.identifier.eissn1471-2954en
dc.identifier.issn0962-8452en
dc.identifier.issue1827en
dc.identifier.other20160106en
dc.identifier.pmid27009222en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/97887en
dc.identifier.volume283en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.rightsCreative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedicationen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/en
dc.subjectcavity excavatoren
dc.subjectcavity nesteren
dc.subjectfungal communitiesen
dc.subjectmultipartite symbiosisen
dc.subjectPicoides borealisen
dc.subjectwood decay fungien
dc.titleExperimental evidence of a symbiosis between red-cockaded woodpeckers and fungien
dc.title.serialProceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciencesen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten
dc.type.dcmitypeStillImageen

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