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Soil fungal communities are key players in biogeochemical processes of peatlands, which are important carbon stocks globally. Although it has been elucidated that fungi are susceptible to environmental changes, little is known about the intricate and interactive effect of long-term nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) enrichment on fungal community structure in northern peatlands. In this study, we compared a short- (2 years) with a long-term (10 years) fertilization experiment in a peatland complex in northeastern China to assess how N and/or P additions influence fungal community structure. The results showed that fungal community composition and diversity were altered by N addition, without a significant interactive effect with P addition. Not only the long-term but also the short-term nutrient addition could change the abundance of different plant functional types. However, there were no strong cascading effects on the fungal community in any of the fertilization experiments. Long-term nutrient addition showed a stronger effect on the relative abundance of different fungal functional guilds; an increase in the relative abundance of saprotrophs after fertilization did not jeopardize mycorrhizal fungi. Moreover, the decline in Sphagnum cover after long-term N addition did not parallel changes in the relative abundance of Sphagnum-associated fungi (Clavaria sphagnicola, Galerina tibiicystis, G. sphagnicola, and G. paludosa). Given that short- and long-term fertilization showed strongly contrasting effects on fungal community structure, our study highlights the necessity of assessing the long-term effects of nutrient enrichment on the association between vegetation and fungal community in peatland ecosystems. Future research priorities should emphasize the connection between the community structure of fungal functional guilds and their functionality, which is of paramount importance to better understand their influences on C storage in the face of uncertain N and P deposition regimes.

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Atmospheric deposition of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) far exceeding the pre-industrial levels have the potential to change carbon (C) dynamics in northern peatlands. However, the responses of soil C concentration and organo-chemical composition to different rates and durations of nutrient enrichment are still unclear. Here, we compared the short- (3 years) and long-term (10 years) effects of N and P fertilizations on the physicochemical properties of peat and porewater in a bog-fen complex in northern China. Our results showed that the short-term fertilization increased Sphagnum moss cover, while the expansion of vascular plants was observed owing to the long-term fertilization. The preserved soil C did not vary considerably after the short- and long-term fertilizations. The harsh soil conditions may impede the decomposition of organic matters by soil microorganisms during the short-term fertilization. For the long-term fertilization, the input of high-phenolic litters owing to vascular plant expansion likely exerted an important control on soil C dynamics. These processes constrained the variation in soil C concentrations when the addition rate and cumulative amount of external N and P increased, which will advance our understanding and prediction of the resilience of soil C storage to imbalanced nutrient enrichment of N and P in northern peatlands.

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