Patterns and drivers of succession provide insight into the mechanisms
that govern community assembly and are indicators of community
resilience and stability but are still poorly understood in microbial
communities. We assessed whether the successional trends of woody
vegetation are mirrored by foliar fungal endophyte communities of three
tree species that are abundant across the woody successional gradient
using a total amplicon sequencing approach. Additionally, we test the
relative contribution of host identity, abiotic predictors, biotic
factors, and spatial distance between sites in predicting community
composition and species richness of endophyte communities. Unlike the
woody community, endophyte communities showed no consistent evidence of
deterministic successional trends. Host identity was the most important
factor structuring fungal endophyte community composition. Spatial
distance played some role in explaining differences in community
composition, but the effects of this and other environmental variables
were small and not consistent between different host species. Much of
the variation in endophyte composition remained unexplained. Host
identity was most important in predicting endophyte richness. Although
endophyte communities showed no deterministic succession, community
assembly was most strongly influenced by host identity and spatial
distance.