DOI: 10.5061/dryad.b8gtht7nq
title: Ericoid mycorrhizal fungal metacommunity facilitates closely related Rhododendron species coexistence

description: The structural and ecological significance of ericoid mycorrhizal (ErM)
 fungi is well recognized. Yet, it remains unknown whether the coexistence
 of ericaceous plants is facilitated by their symbioses with ErM
 fungi. Here, we use Rhododendron (Ericaceae) as a model
 to investigate how phylogenetic and functional limiting similarity, or
 facilitation through ErM fungal metacommunity, influences their
 co-occurrence in mountain ecosystems. We
 found Rhododendron species tended to be phylogenetically and
 functionally clustered across elevations. However, a substantial
 dissimilarity in the composition of putative ErM fungi was observed among
 co-occurring hosts within the same community, especially at higher
 elevations. Host identity played a predominant role in shaping the
 composition of ErM fungi. Moreover, the degree of network specialization
 in Rhododendron-ErM fungi interactions increased with
 elevation. Our study provides one of the first examinations of
 drivers of ErM fungal composition and network specialization in a
 species-rich Rhododendron assemblage. Host-symbiont mutualistic
 interactions in complex landscapes may offer insights into the coexistence
 of closely related species.
description: # Ericoid mycorrhizal fungal metacommunity facilitates closely related
 Rhododendron species coexistence This data package contains data and an R
 script for the Manuscript Ya-Huang Luo, Liang-Liang Ma, Marc W. Cadotte,
 Sebastian Seibold, Jia-Yun Zou, Jie Song, Wei Zheng, Zhi-Qiong Mo, Bin Yu,
 Cai-Yun Li, Yong-Hui Qian, Lin-Jiang Ye, Shao-Lin Tan, Jie Liu, De-Zhu Li,
 Lian-Ming Gao. Putative Ericoid mycorrhizal fungal metacommunity
 facilitates closely related Rhododendron species coexistence. The data
 contains 1 file (in *.R format) that was used in the analyses of the above
 manuscript The data contains 1 file (in *.nexus format) that was used in
 the phylogenetic data of the above manuscript The data contains 6 files
 (each in *.csv format) that were used in the metacommunity and network
 data of the above manuscript A detailed description of each data file is
 given below. \#################################### 1. ErM
 fungi_manucript_R R script for data analysis used in this manuscript
 \#################################### 2\. Rhododendron_tree.nexus
 Rhododendron phylogenetic tree for 20 focal species used in this study
 \#################################### 3 All_fungi_rarefy_community.csv All
 fungal OTUs dataframe, row name is individual code, colname is OTU
 \#################################### 4 All_fungi_rarefy_taxonomy.xlsx All
 fungal OTUs taxonomy dataframe, row name is UNITE code, colname including
 OTU_ID, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species,
 respectively. \#################################### 5
 ErM_fungal_rarefy_community Putative ErM fungal OTUs dataframe, row name
 is individual code, colname is OTU \#################################### 6
 ErM_fungi_rarefy_taxonomy.xlsx Putative ErM fungal OTUs taxonomy
 dataframe, row name is UNITE code, colname including OTU_ID, Kingdom,
 Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species, respectively.
 \#################################### 7\. predictor_all fungi.csv The
 biotic and abiotic factors used in this study to explore the effects of
 host, environment, and space on all fungal composition The details
 including 1\)code: individual code 2\)Aspect: Aspect of the mountain
 3\)Species_new:species name 4\)Species_ele:species name and elevation
 5\)plot: Aspect and plot 6\)Elevation: elevation (m) Variables Abbreviate
 Unit Host (28) Moran’s eigenvector maps of phylogeny MEM#1-#19 Host
 abundance Maximum height Hmax m Leaf thickness LT cm Leaf area LA cm2
 Specific leaf area SLA cm2/g Leaf carbon concentration LCC g/kg Leaf
 nitrogen concentration LNC g/kg Leaf phosphorus concentration LPC g/kg
 Seed mass SM g Space (18) Principal coordinates of neighbor matrices
 PCNM#1-#18 Environment (17) Soil pH pH Soil organic carbon SOC g.Kg-1 Soil
 total nitrogen T.N g.Kg-1 Soil total phosphorus T.P g.Kg-1 Soil total
 potassium T.K g.Kg-1 Soil available nitrogen A.N mg.Kg-1 Soil available
 phosphorus A.P mg.Kg-1 Soil water content SWC % Mean annual temperature of
 air A.MAT °C Maximum temperature of air max.AT °C Minimum temperature of
 air min.AT °C Mean annual temperature of soil S.MAT °C Maximum temperature
 of soil max.ST °C Minimum temperature of soil min.ST °C Air humidity
 Humidity % Coefficient variation of air temperature CV.A.MAT Coefficient
 variation of soil temperature CV.S.MAT
 \#################################### 8\. predictor_ErM_fungi.csv The
 biotic and abiotic factors used in this study to explore the effects of
 host, environment, and space on the composition of putative ErM fungi The
 details including 1\)code: individual code 2\)Aspect: Aspect of the
 mountain 3\)Species_new:species name 4\)Species_ele:species name and
 elevation 5\)plot: Aspect and plot 6\)Elevation: elevation (m) Variables
 Abbreviate Unit Host (28) Moran’s eigenvector maps of phylogeny MEM#1-#19
 Host abundance Maximum height Hmax m Leaf thickness LT cm Leaf area LA cm2
 Specific leaf area SLA cm2/g Leaf carbon concentration LCC g/kg Leaf
 nitrogen concentration LNC g/kg Leaf phosphorus concentration LPC g/kg
 Seed mass SM g Space (18) Principal coordinates of neighbor matrices
 PCNM#1-#18 Environment (17) Soil pH pH Soil organic carbon SOC g.Kg-1 Soil
 total nitrogen T.N g.Kg-1 Soil total phosphorus T.P g.Kg-1 Soil total
 potassium T.K g.Kg-1 Soil available nitrogen A.N mg.Kg-1 Soil available
 phosphorus A.P mg.Kg-1 Soil water content SWC % Mean annual temperature of
 air A.MAT °C Maximum temperature of air max.AT °C Minimum temperature of
 air min.AT °C Mean annual temperature of soil S.MAT °C Maximum temperature
 of soil max.ST °C Minimum temperature of soil min.ST °C Air humidity
 Humidity % Coefficient variation of air temperature CV.AT Coefficient
 variation of soil temperature CV.ST
 \############################################################