On ecology of post-fire soil fungi: Assessing impact of disturbance utilizing species-abundance models as measure of community organization

Mediterranean ecosystems are among those most significantly modified by fires, with evident disturbance of the above- and below-ground ecosystem components, at various spatial and temporal scales, including that of soil microfungi. The ecological parameters used to measure the effects of disturbance on the soil fungal community include species-abundance distribution patterns, which reflect changes in the relationships between species number and their relative abundance, as a critical measure of community organization. Species-abundance distribution patterns were used to assess the disturbance impact of experimental fires on soil fungal communities in the short- to mid-term in Mediterranean maquis (southern Italy). The trend in the distribution patterns of xerotolerant and heat-stimulated soil fungi over time, their different responses to experimental low- and high-intensity fire, the efficiency of the soil germplasm bank and the pivotal role of Neosartorya spp in post-fire community structure in Mediterranean burned soils will be presented and discussed.