Peer Review #3 of "Different revegetation types alter soil physical-chemical characteristics and fungal community in the Baishilazi Nature Reserve (v0.1)"

Abstract

The effects of different revegetation types on soil physical-chemical characteristics and fungal community diversity and composition of soils sampled from five different revegetation types (JM, Juglans mandshurica; QM, Quercus mongolica; CB, coniferbroadleaf forest; LG, Larix gmelinii; PK, Pinus koraiensis) in the Baishilazi Nature Reserve were determined. Soil fungal communities were assessed employing ITS rRNA Illunima Miseq high-throughput sequencing. Responses of the soil fungi community to soil environmental factors were assessed through canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) and Pearson correlation analysis. The coniferous forests (LG, PK) and conifer-broadleaf forest (CB) had reduced soil total Carbon (C), total Nitrogen (N), and available N values compared with the broadleaf forest (JM, QM). The average fungus diversity according to the Shannon, ACE, Chao1 and Simpson index were increased in the JM site. Basidiomycota, Ascomycota, Zygomycota, and Rozellomycota were the dominant fungal taxa in this region. The phylum Basidiomycota was dominant in the QM, CB, LG, and PK sites, while, Ascomycota was the dominant phylum in the JM site. The clear differentiation of fungal communities and the clustering in the heatmap and in NMDS plot showed that broadleaf forests, conifer-broadleaf forest, and coniferous forests harboured different fungal communities. The results of the canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that soil environmental factors, such as soil pH, total C, total N, available N, and available Phosphorus (P) greatly influenced the fungal community structure. Based on our results, the different responses of the soil fungal communities to the different revegetation types largely dependent on different forest types and soil physicochemical characteristic in Baishilazi Nature Reserve.