Abstract
Aims
This study was conducted to synthetically investigate how root-associated fungi react to the environmental variations (plant diversity and soil properties) and changes in their diversity patterns across three different coniferous forests (Pinus wallichiana, Abies spectabilis, Juniperus saltuaria) located in the subalpine-cold regions.
Methods
Illumina sequencing of fungal biomarker 18S rRNA was used to determine the diversity patterns and drivers of root-associated fungal communities and functional guilds interactions, along with plant diversity survey and soil properties analyses.
Results
The diversity patterns among fungal trophic guilds the symbiotic and saprophytic communities contrasted significantly. The least saprophytic fungal diversity (low Shannon index) occurred in forests with P. wallichiana and best predicted by the soil organic carbon contents (SOC). Whereas, in the same region, the symbiotic fungal diversity was lowest in forests where J. saltuaria tree species was abundant and closely linked with soil nitrate contents (NO3−). In N deficient soils under P. wallichiana forestation, the root-associated fungal community negatively correlated with plant diversity as indicated by the lowest Shannon index numbers.
Conclusions
In the investigated coniferous forest soils, the interactions among trophic guilds, plant diversity and soil nutrient conditions determined the diversity of root-associated fungal communities of the three tree species. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the response and variability in the endemic root-associated fungal functional guilds in the sub-alpine biodiversity hotspot in Southern Himalayas of China.
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Data availability
The datasets analysed during the current study are available from the first and corresponding author on reasonable request.
Code availability
The code analysed during the current study are available from the first and corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Funding
This study was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. XDB31000000), National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2021YFD2200403), Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31870506, 41907029, 32071594).
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Nan Yang: Investigation, Conceptualization, Visualization, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. Yan Zhang, Xiuxiu Li: Investigation, Methodology. Jingji Li: Resources. Honghua Ruan, Parag Bhople, Katharina Keiblinger: Writing – review & editing. Lingfeng Mao: Funding acquisition, Validation, Supervision, Project administration, Writing – review & editing. Dong Liu: Visualization, Formal analysis, Supervision, Writing – review & editing.
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Yang, N., Zhang, Y., Li, J. et al. Interaction among soil nutrients, plant diversity and hypogeal fungal trophic guild modifies root-associated fungal diversity in coniferous forests of Chinese Southern Himalayas. Plant Soil 481, 395–408 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05646-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05646-4