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Fungal diversity of Australian eucalypt forests remains underexplored. We investigated the ectomycorrhizal (EcM) fungal community characteristics of declining temperate eucalypt forests in Tasmania. Within this context, we explored the diversity of EcM fungi of two forest types in the northern highlands in the east and west of the island. We hypothesised that EcM fungal community richness and composition would differ between forest type but that the Cortinariaceae would be the dominant family irrespective of forest type. We proposed that EcM richness would be greater in the wet sclerophyll forest than the dry sclerophyll forest type. Using both sporocarps and EcM fungi from root tips amplified by PCR and sequenced in the rDNA ITS region, 175 EcM operational taxonomic units were identified of which 97 belonged to the Cortinariaceae. The Cortinariaceae were the most diverse family, in both the above and below ground communities. Three distinct fungal assemblages occurred within the wet and dry sclerophyll forest types and two geographic regions that were studied, although this pattern did not remain when only the root tip data were analysed. EcM sporocarp richness was unusually higher than root tip richness and EcM richness did not significantly differ among forest types. The results are discussed in relation to the importance of the Cortinariaceae and the drivers of EcM fungal community composition within these forests.

The possible drivers and implications of an observed latitudinal cline in disease resistance of a host tree were examined. Mycosphaerella leaf disease (MLD) damage, caused by Teratosphaeria species, was assessed in five Eucalyptus globulus (Tasmanian blue gum) common garden trials containing open-pollinated progeny from 13 native-forest populations. Significant population and family within population variation in MLD resistance was detected, which was relatively stable across different combinations of trial sites, ages, seasons and epidemics. A distinct genetic-based latitudinal cline in MLD damage among host populations was evident. Two lines of evidence argue that the observed genetic-based latitudinal trend was the result of direct pathogen-imposed selection for MLD resistance. First, MLD damage was positively associated with temperature and negatively associated with a prediction of disease risk in the native environment of these populations; and, second, the quantitative inbreeding coefficient (QST) significantly exceeded neutral marker FST at the trial that exhibited the greatest MLD damage, suggesting that diversifying selection contributed to differentiation in MLD resistance among populations. This study highlights the potential for spatial variation in pathogen risk to drive adaptive differentiation across the geographic range of a foundation host tree species.