Impacts of Human Activities Over the Fungal Diversity in Yungas: The Subtropical Cloud Forests of Southern-South America

Abstract

Deforestation, the conversion of primary forests into forest plantations, and urbanization growth are key drivers of environment modification, commonly associated with a decline in species diversity. While many of these novel landscapes have been proposed as viable alternatives for biodiversity conservation, they have been shown to have adverse effects on fungal diversity. Furthermore, the impacts on fungal functional diversity have not yet been thoroughly examined in montane cloud forest regions. We conducted field surveys across different land-use types in the subtropical Montane Cloud Forest (Yungas) of Jujuy province, northwestern Argentina, a region currently facing intense urban growth and deforestation. We compared fungal diversity across well-preserved native forests, forest plantations of Pinus patula and Eucalyptus viminalis, and rural-periurban areas. Species were classified into trophic modes and functional guilds to assess their ecological roles. Our results revealed significant differences in mean species richness among land-use types (F = 17.22, df = 56, p < 0.001), and high values of species turnover between them. Native forests harboured the highest species richness, while rural-periurban sites had the lowest. Pinus patula and E. viminalis plantations showed similar richness values. Of the 492 fungal samples, 93% were saprotrophs, 6% symbiotrophs, and 4% pathotrophs. Across all land-use types, communities were dominated by species belonging to Basidiomycota. Yungas landscapes are vulnerable to human intervention, as evidenced by the observed species turnover and the loss of several native fungal species. As anthropogenic biomes increasingly replace natural ecosystems, it is essential to incorporate these altered habitats into conservation frameworks. Studying the changes in fungal biodiversity between natural and modified habitats is essential for advancing on the field of fungal conservation biology.