Ecological Diversity of Micromycetes in Aerial Environments of Russian Libraries

Abstract

The structure of micromycete communities in the library aerial environment was investigated in 57 Russian cities located in seven federal districts (Northwestern, Central, Southern, Volga, Ural, Siberian, and Far Eastern). A total of 107 micromycete species belonging to 41 genera were isolated and identified. Due to mostly similar conditions, the aerial ecosystem of internal spaces of the library storage facilities was relatively stable, with moderate diversity and high evenness, as was confirmed by the relevant indices: the Shannon index varied from 2.7 to 3.4, the McIntosh diversity index, from 22.7 to 140.8, and the Menhinick index, from 2.1 to 3.0. The Simpson’s dominance index and the Berger–Parker index did not exceed 0.11 and 0.24, respectively. The McIntosh and Pielou’s evenness indices were 0.71–0.78 and 0.79–0.85, respectively. High similarity of the taxonomic structures, independent of climatic conditions of the studied regions, was revealed, as was confirmed by the values of the Stugren–Radulescu and Morisita–Horn coefficients: 0.08‒0.77 and 0.04‒0.47, respectively. The typical members of the studied mycobiota were Aspergillus versicolor (7.5‒14.3), Cladosporium cladosporioides (17.5‒40.5), C. herbarum (0.8‒53.6), and Penicillium aurantiogriseum (6.5‒32.4). Most other species were scarce, with frequencies of occurrence not exceeding 7.1%.