Table 2

The relationship of fungal abundance and richness to weather.

Direct climate measurements
Fungal abundance
Fungal richness

average temperature
(-) 0.18
(-) 0.26a
standard deviation of temperature
(+) 0.01
(+) 0.02
average relative humidity (RH)
(+) 0.30a
(+) 0.35b
standard deviation of RH
(+) 0.27a
(+) 0.33b
average daily maximum RH
(+) 0.43b
(+) 0.65c
average vapor pressure deficit (VPD)
(-) 0.30a
(-) 0.44b
standard deviation of VPD
(-) 0.15
(-) 0.16
# of consecutive days above freezing
(-) 0.38b
(-) 0.45b
proportion of time with RH > 94%
(+) 0.37b
(+) 0.36b
proportion of days with max RH >90%
(+) 0.41b
(+) 0.54c
average # of consecutive days with max RH >90%
(+) 0.21a
(+) 0.12
proportion of days with max RH <50%
(-) 0.43a
(-) 0.70c
average # of consecutive days with max RH < 50%
(-) 0.56c
(-) 0.72c

Climate parameters from weather stations



annual precipitation
(+) 0.21a
(+) 0.14
annual temperature
(-) 0.22a
(-) 0.37c

Site-specific parameters



elevation
(+) 0.09
(+) 0.18a
latitude
(+) 0.22a
(+) 0.35b
longitude
(-) 0.03
(-) 0.17a
presence of water at site
(+) 0.26b
(+) 0.16a
associated vegetation indicative of moisture
(+) 0.49c
(+) 0.4c

a: P < 0.05, b: P < 0.01, c: P < 0.001. The relationship of fungal abundance and richness to parameters derived from direct climate measurements (calculated from the relative humidity and temperature of the habitat), annual climate records from nearby weather stations, and site-specific factors. Values are coefficients of determination (r2) with the sign of the slope in parentheses. Direct weather parameters were analyzed using records for the growing season, March to October, 1999.

Talley et al. BMC Ecology 2002 2:7   doi:10.1186/1472-6785-2-7