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Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology ›› 2011, Vol. 22 ›› Issue (05): 1275-1279.

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Niche comparison of dominant entomopathogenic fungi in three |forest ecosystems.

CHEN Ming-jun, HUANG Bo, LI Zeng-zhi   

  1. Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Microbial Control, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China
  • Online:2011-05-18 Published:2011-05-18

Abstract: An investigation was made on the quantitative composition, niche width, and niche overlap of dominant entomopathogenic fungi in three different forest ecosystems, i.e., natural broad-leaved forest, natural secondary broad-leaved forest, and pure Masson’s pine plantation. In the three forest ecosystems, Beauveria bassiana was the first dominant species in natural secondary broad-leaved forest, the second in pure Masson’s pine plantation, and the third in natural broad-leaved forest. B. bassiana had the broadest temporal niche width and nutritional niche width, whereas the dominant species Isaria cateinannulata, I. farinose, and I. tenuipes had much smaller niche widths. Meanwhile, B. bassiana had larger temporal niche overlaps but smaller nutritional niche overlaps with other dominant entomopathogenic fungi. It was suggested that in the  three forest ecosystems, B. bassiana had the longest occurrence duration, widest host range, and strongest environmental adaptability.

Key words: Beauveria bassiana, relative abundance, niche width, niche overlap