Fig 4. Differences in fungal community composition between phytometer and natural trees.

[A] displays results from non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) showing clearly separated phytometer and natural samples and a strong dispersion of the phytometer samples. [B] Principal coordinate analysis (PCO) confirmed this bisection into phytometer and natural fungal assemblages. It additionally displays those environmental parameters, which had a significant influence on fungal composition (chl.avg = chlorophyll content, flav.avg = flavonoid content). The higher dispersion of phytometer samples persisted in PCO and points towards a larger heterogeneity of the corresponding leaf mycobiome. [C] displays taxonomic composition of leaf-inhabiting fungi from phytometer trees, natural samples and the entire beech mycobiome for the nine most abundant orders (see text for the type of abundance measuring). All OTUs without taxonomic representation at the order level in the reference data set ("unidentified fungi") as well as less abundant orders (e.g. Botryosphaeriales, Diversisporales or Malasseziales) are combined into "Others".