Similarities and Differences among Soil Fungal Assemblages in Managed Forests and Formerly Managed Forest Reserves

Abstract

Unlike the numerous works concerning the effect of management on the forest mycobiome, only a few studies have addressed how fungi from different trophic groups recover from natural and anthropogenic disturbances and develop structural features typical of unmanaged old-growth forests. Our objective is to compare the soil fungal assemblages represented by different functional/trophic groups in protected and managed stands located in European mixed forests dominated by Scots pine. Fungal communities were analyzed using high-throughput Illumina MiSeq sequencing of fungal internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) amplicons. Formerly managed forest reserves (established around 50 years ago) and forests under standard forest management appeared to be similar in terms of total and mean species richness of all fungal operational taxonomic units (OTUs), as well as OTUs assigned to different functional trophic groups. Among the 599recorded OTUs, 497 (83%) were shared between both management types, whereas 9.5% of taxa were unique to forest reserves and 7.5% were unique to managed stands. Ascomycota and Basidiomycota were the predominant phyla, comprising 88% of all identified fungi. The main functional components of soil fungal assemblages consisted of saprotrophic (42% fungal OTUs; 27% reads) and ectomycorrhizal fungi (16%; 47%). Two-way analysis of similarities (ANOSIM) revealed that both site and management strategy influenced the species composition of soil fungal communities, with site being a primary effect for saprotrophic and ectomycorrhizal fungi. Volume of coarse and very fine woody debris and soil pH significantly influenced the ectomycorrhizal fungal community, whereas saprotrophic fungi were influenced primarily by volume of coarse woody debris and soil nitrate concentration. Among the identified fungal OTUs, 18 red-listed fungal species were identified from both forest reserves and managed forests, comprising two ECM fungi and four saprotrophs from the category of endangered species. Our results suggest that the transformation of fungal diversity after cessation of forest management is rather slow, and that both forest reserves and managed forests help uphold fungal diversity.

Metagenomic Analysis of Bacterial and Fungal Communities Inhabiting Shiro Dominant Soils of Two Production Regions of Tricholoma Matsutake S. Ito & S. Imai in Korea

“…For one assemblage of ECM except for unknown fungi, the similarity of ECM communities showed the highest value in the shiro− soils at the two sites (0.857). In a previous study by Kujawska et al [42], the re-assembly of the soil fungal community at the trophic level could be a strong stochastic component to overcome a general reduction in the similarity of the community composition between different regions.…”

“…The ECM fungi of generas Tylospora, Astraeus, Sistotrema, Russula, Sebacina, and Tomentella thatwere also detected in a coastal pine forest in the eastern region of Korea, were abundantly detected in the shiro− soil at the Bonghwa site [38][39][40][41]. In other fungi assemblages, there are a few fungal genera in the form of saprotrophic fungi groups such as Cladophialophora, penicillium, unidentified Hyaloscyphaceae, and Mortierella [42]. The fungal communities, except for Tricholoma and other ECMs, have lower proportions in the shiro+ soils than those in the shiro− soils at the two sites (B_shiro+.…”

“…34.00%; B_shiro−, 74.20%; Y_shiro+, 25.42%; Y_shiro−, 61.74%). According to the report by Kujawska et al [42], the fungal communities in the soil of forests could be divided into ECM, saprotrophic, pathotrophic, and other fungi assemblages from different trophic groups. They suggested that the fungal communities in forest soils were closely related to different trophic groups, and were similar in abundance and diversity.…”

“…Although the relationship between the formation of fruiting bodies of T. matsutake and soil properties is still unknown, the impact on microbial communities, diversity, and relative abundance is positively correlated with soil properties [48][49][50]. Moreover, the report by Kujawska et al [42] showed that fungal communities differed from trophic groups, soil pH significantly influenced ectomycorrhizal fungal communities, and the volume of coarse woody debris and soil nitrate concentration influenced the saprotrophic fungi community [42]. However, the climate factors and soil properties of the two sites were not measured in this study.…”

Mycobiota of Fine Roots of Pseudotsuga menziesii Introduced to the Native Forest Environment

“…These techniques allow the analysis of fungal communities in forest ecosystems composed of functionally distinct trophic groups represented by symbiotrophic (mycorrhizal fungi, lichens, endophytes), pathotrophic and saprotrophic fungi [24]. Recent research using the NGS technique addresses, among other things, changes in soil fungal community depending on the functional group and the type of forest disturbance [29], the importance of environmental factors (weather and climatic factors) [30] and anthropogenic factors (forest management) on fungal community changes [31]. Applying the NGS technique to a large-scale analysis of the soil fungal community at geographically separated forest sites dominated by the same tree species could help to clarify the relative contribution of geographical location and soil chemical parameters to soil fungal community structure.…”