Fungal Community Expression in Lagomorph Versus Ruminant Feces

SUMMARY

A separately caged rabbit and a sheep were fed baled alfalfa hay from a field in northwestern Pennsylvania in order to estimate the importance of different herbivore digestive systems (i.e., lagomorph versus ruminant) in determining species composition and species-frequency distributions of the resultant coprophilous fungal communities. Samples of freshly collected dung from each animal were incubated (40 da) in laboratory moist chambers and dung surfaces were periodically examined for the presence of fungal sporocarps. Number of species and frequency of occurrence of loculoascomycetes and pyrenomycetes were significantly greater on rabbit feces, while discomycetes were recorded at higher frequencies on sheep feces. It was not determined whether fungal distribution patterns result from the selective effects of digestive systems on spore populations during gut passage or from differences in competitive abilities of fungi in lagomorph and ruminant feces.