The role of long-distance dispersal for community dynamics of fungi
Abstract
Realized dispersal ability of wind-dispersing fungi in natural conditions remains poorly understood. Here, we study how climate, habitat type and long-distance dispersal jointly structure fungal communities and how their effects vary between species that have different morphological and life history traits. We integrate global fungal (spores and other organismal material) occurrence data collected in 2018-2021 with atmospheric dispersion projections that are used to define sample connectivity and to assess land cover in the spore source areas. Connectivity and land cover similarity increase community similarity, but the effects are small compared to the effect of climatic sorting. In contrast, connectivity is the main factor controlling the occurrence pattern of relatively common species and higher for plant pathogens than for all other species. We present the framework as a proof of concept -type of work to highlight the progress and future potential in studying dispersal of microbial organisms at the global scale.
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BibTeX
@misc{makinen2026role,
title = {{The role of long-distance dispersal for community dynamics of fungi}},
author = {Jussi Mäkinen and Janne Mäyra and Yalda Fatahi and Mikhail Sofiev and Otso Ovaskainen and Nerea Abrego and Veera Norros},
howpublished = {EcoEvoRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.32942/x2g682},
url = {https://ecoevorxiv.org/repository/view/15598/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - The role of long-distance dispersal for community dynamics of fungi
AU - Jussi Mäkinen
AU - Janne Mäyra
AU - Yalda Fatahi
AU - Mikhail Sofiev
AU - Otso Ovaskainen
AU - Nerea Abrego
AU - Veera Norros
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/21
PB - EcoEvoRxiv
DO - 10.32942/x2g682
UR - https://ecoevorxiv.org/repository/view/15598/
AB - Realized dispersal ability of wind-dispersing fungi in natural conditions remains poorly understood. Here, we study how climate, habitat type and long-distance dispersal jointly structure fungal communities and how their effects vary between species that have different morphological and life history traits. We integrate global fungal (spores and other organismal material) occurrence data collected in 2018-2021 with atmospheric dispersion projections that are used to define sample connectivity and to assess land cover in the spore source areas. Connectivity and land cover similarity increase community similarity, but the effects are small compared to the effect of climatic sorting. In contrast, connectivity is the main factor controlling the occurrence pattern of relatively common species and higher for plant pathogens than for all other species. We present the framework as a proof of concept -type of work to highlight the progress and future potential in studying dispersal of microbial organisms at the global scale.
ER -