A pooping case: does the structure of dung-inhabiting fungi respond to the type of diet or type of animal?s digestive system?

Dung-inhabiting fungi play a key role in ecosystems by acting on decomposing dung and cycling non-absorbed nutrients during the digestion process. Due to the scarcity of studies focused on ecological aspects of dung fungi, little is known about how the type of diet and type of animal's digestive system determine the substrate type, modulate and structure dung-inhabiting fungi communities. Herein, we evaluate how biological factors intrinsic to animals (diet and gut type) influence the structure of fungal communities growing on dung of different animal species in the Brazilian Cerrado. We found that the type of digestive system has a low influence on the structure of dung-inhabiting fungi communities, but there is higher fungal diversity in herbivore dung than omnivore dung. The fungi from omnivorous dung are most specific and restricted to this substrate. Horse dung was the most suitable substrate to develop dung-inhabiting fungi. We highlight the importance of dung and animals' conditions as modulators of fungal communities, as well as the need of new sampling methodologies to better characterize the ecological aspects of fungal communities from dung in the wild.