Aquatic hyphomycetes diversity is higher in environmentally heterogeneous streams

Energy dynamics of subtropical streams are diverse and depend essentially on the input of allochthonous organic matter, intermediated by decomposers. In these ecosystems, decomposition is carried out mainly by aquatic fungi. Recent studies about this community have focused on phenomena such as surrounding land use of streams and their environmental heterogeneity. In this context, we studied a biodiversity hotspot, the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, and sampled streams which were classified according to land uses: urban, rural and protected areas (PA). Mixes of leaves were collected and packaged for identification of fungi decomposing them. The beta diversity was estimated based on the species of aquatic hyphomycetes found in the land use categories and related to the limnological parameters of the different streams. Urban and rural streams (40 and 45 species, respectively) showed greater dissimilarity of species in relation to PA streams (29 species), although there are no differences between fungal communities of urban and rural streams. Since some of the PA streams indicated conditions similar to those largely impacted by human activity, this may cause the loss of fungal species and has repercussions on the reduction of ecosystem services. This study contributed to the knowledge base in fungal communities and their relationship with limnological parameters, providing information on species involved in energy flow in subtropical food chains.