TY  - JOUR
A1  - Krah, Franz-Sebastian
A1  - Büntgen, Ulf
A1  - Schaefer, Hanno
A1  - Müller, Jörg
A1  - Andrew, Carrie
A1  - Boddy, Lynne
A1  - Diez, Jeffrey
A1  - Egli, Simon
A1  - Freckleton, Robert
A1  - Gange, Alan C.
A1  - Halvorsen, Rune
A1  - Heegaard, Einar
A1  - Heideroth, Antje
A1  - Heibl, Christoph
A1  - Heilmann-Clausen, Jacob
A1  - Høiland, Klaus
A1  - Kar, Ritwika
A1  - Kauserud, Håvard
A1  - Kirk, Paul M.
A1  - Kuyper, Thomas W.
A1  - Krisai-Greilhuber, Irmgard
A1  - Norden, Jenni
A1  - Papastefanou, Phillip
A1  - Senn-Irlet, Beatrice
A1  - Bässler, Claus
T1  - European mushroom assemblages are darker in cold climates
JF  - Nature Communications
N2  - Thermal melanism theory states that dark-colored ectotherm organisms are at an advantage at low temperature due to increased warming. This theory is generally supported for ectotherm animals, however, the function of colors in the fungal kingdom is largely unknown. Here, we test whether the color lightness of mushroom assemblages is related to climate using a dataset of 3.2 million observations of 3,054 species across Europe. Consistent with the thermal melanism theory, mushroom assemblages are significantly darker in areas with cold climates. We further show differences in color phenotype between fungal lifestyles and a lifestyle differentiated response to seasonality. These results indicate a more complex ecological role of mushroom colors and suggest functions beyond thermal adaption. Because fungi play a crucial role in terrestrial carbon and nutrient cycles, understanding the links between the thermal environment, functional coloration and species’ geographical distributions will be critical in predicting ecosystem responses to global warming.
KW  - evolutionary ecology
KW  - fungal ecology
KW  - fungal evolution
KW  - macroecology
Y1  - 2019
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-224815
VL  - 10
ER  -