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Review

Soil Fungal Community and Potential Function in Different Forest Ecosystems

by
Xiaoli Li
†,
Zhaolei Qu
†,
Yuemei Zhang
,
Yan Ge
and
Hui Sun
*
Collaborative Innovation Center of Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, College of Forestry, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Diversity 2022, 14(7), 520; https://doi.org/10.3390/d14070520
Submission received: 26 May 2022 / Revised: 22 June 2022 / Accepted: 27 June 2022 / Published: 28 June 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Fungi Diversity and Their Ecological Significance)
Versions Notes

Abstract

:
Forests acting as carbon storage and sequestration play an essential role in the global nutrient cycle, in which fungi are active participants. The forests cover almost all regions from the boreal, temperate to the subtropical and tropical forests. The relative proportion of carbon sequestrated in forest soil varies from approximately 85% of the terrestrial carbon pool in boreal forests to 60% in temperate forests and to 50% in tropical rainforests. Fungi as decomposers of organic matter and root-associated mediators of belowground carbon transport and respiration are the key drivers of the carbon cycle in forests. For example, saprophytic fungi can degrade soil organic matter to release carbon into the soil, whereas symbiotic fungi could form symbiosis with plants, through which plant and fungi can benefit each other with nutrient flow. Given the importance of fungi in the ecological environment, this paper summarizes the importance of soil fungi in terms of fungal diversity and function in forest ecosystems.

1. Introduction

The forests cover almost all regions from the boreal to the tropical forests and provide critical environmental services by acting as carbon sinks, conserving biodiversity, protecting soils, and providing timber resources [1]. One third of the total global fossil fuel emissions estimated was absorbed by forests [2]. In fact, the forest ecosystems contain 80% of the terrestrial carbon and 70% of the soil organic carbon [3,4]. The relative proportion of carbon sequestrated in forest soil varies from approximately 85% of the terrestrial carbon pool in boreal forests to 60% in temperate forests and to 50% in tropical rainforests [5]. This carbon is derived mainly from plant leaf litter and root systems, in which the soil fungi act as the main decomposers [6,7] and regulators [8,9]. For example, saprophytic fungi decompose organic matter to participate in the carbon cycle [10], while mycorrhizal fungi help plants obtain mineral nutrition from the soil and participate in the carbon balance of forest ecosystems [11]. Therefore, the soil fungi play crucial roles in nutrient cycles in forest ecosystems. In addition, the forest soil fungi are influenced by a variety of biotic and abiotic factors, including the climate, soil physicochemical properties, and microbial interactions [12,13]. In this review, we summarize the soil fungal community structure and function in different forest ecosystems (boreal, temperate, tropical, and subtropical forest) to highlight the importance of forest soil microbes in changing climate. The recent developed technologies to study the forest soil microbiome also are summarized.

2. Soil Fungal Community Structure and Function in Boreal Forests

2.1. Soil Fungal Community Diversity and Structure

The boreal forest is among the largest forest ecosystem in the world [14] and stores 33% of the earth’s total carbon, most of which is stored in the soil [2]. Fungi are the key drivers of the carbon cycle in boreal forests as decomposers of organic matter and root-associated mediators of belowground carbon transport and respiration [15,16]. The changes in fungal diversity and community composition within an ecosystem often follow the shift of aboveground forests, while the dynamic of root-associated and soil fungi is an important additional factor explaining carbon accumulation and guaranteeing the establishment and stability of aboveground forest [17]. The boreal forest harbored higher soil fungal diversity and species richness than other forest ecosystems [18]. The fungal diversity in different soil layers showed clear vertical difference [19], which, in general, is more likely to be indirectly influenced by variations in environmental or nutrient partitioning due to the soil depth [20]. More specifically, the fungal diversity and species richness decreased along increased soil depth. The raw litter layer harbored the highest fungal diversity and species richness due to the high content of soil organic matter [19,21].
The fungal composition at the taxonomic level also showed distinct differences in vertical gradients across different soil layers in boreal forests. Basidiomycota dominated the fungal communities in each of the soil horizons with a similar relative abundance of over 60% [19]. Many members of Basidiomycota were generalist, with some ectomycorrhizal fungi being able to serve as saprophytes at the same time [19]. Lactarius rufus (belonging to Basidiomycota), which could form ectomycorrhiza with Scots pine, was the most abundant species in all soil horizons across different seasons, respectively [19]. The community differences at higher taxonomic level (e.g., phylum) between the horizons were largely a consequence of shifts in the abundances of Ascomycota and Zygomycota. Ascomycota had higher relative abundance in the raw litter layer, which then decreased with the increasing soil depth. In contrast, Zygomycota increased in abundance [19,21]. Most members of Ascomycota are saprophytic fungi, while that of Zygomycota are mycorrhizal fungi [22], which tend to become more abundant with root extension. Russula and Lactarius were more abundant in the litter layer, whereas Cortinarius and Tricholoma were more abundant in the deeper humus layer [21]. The difference in nutrient acquisition strategies might be the reason as Cortinarius and Tricholoma could preferentially utilize nitrogen from the deeper humus layer, while Russula and Lactarius acquired nitrogen from the forest litter layer [21].

2.2. The Effects of Wildfire on Soil Fungal Community

The wildfire is one of the common natural disturbances in boreal forests and significantly affects the soil fungal community. The fire can affect the soil fungi either directly via the heat produced by the fire causing fungal mycelia to die [23] or indirectly via changing the soil properties, such as soil pH and nutrient contents [24]. The lowest fungal diversity and species richness were found in the forests, where the fires have just occurred (0–3 years) [24]. With the increasing time of post-fire, the fungal diversity and species richness increased and stabilized after several decades [23,24,25,26]. Wildfires also occur in other environments apart from boreal forests. They are especially more prevalent in Mediterranean forests, in which the soil fungal diversity exhibited the similar trend after wildfire in the boreal forests [27]. Meanwhile, the intensity of the fire can alter the soil pH, which affects the fungal diversity. In general, the fungal diversity and species richness decrease with the increasing of fire intensity in both Mediterranean and boreal forest [23,27,28].
Fire also affects the fungal community composition in the soil. Generally, the abundance of Ascomycota increases and that of Basidiomycota decreases shortly after the fire occurred [24,29]. The increased abundance of Ascomycetes is attributed to their tolerance of high soil pH and other physicochemical consequences caused by wildfire [30]. Many members of Basidiomycota are mycorrhizal fungi, and the occurrence of fire leads to a decrease in the host plants, resulting in decreased abundance of mycorrhizal fungi. Some of the mycorrhizal fungi increased in abundance after fire. For example, a higher abundance of Russula decolorans is commonly found in the forest with short post-fire history (3 years). It is likely that the plants’ roots that survived the fires may provide shelter for some mycorrhizas and fungal endophytes, e.g., R. decolorans [31]. Cortinarius spp. are thought to be vulnerable to fire and typically become more abundant 40–60 years post-fire in boreal forests. Moreover, Suillus spp. seem not affected by the fire in forest soil; although, they may be involved in carbon and nitrogen cycling processes [23,24]. Additionally, the high abundance of Rhizopogon was observed only in the Mediterranean forests after fires but not in the boreal forests [27,32]. The adaptation of this genus to fire is due to their rhizomorphs and mycelia, which can extend considerable distances from the tree root, and hence they have a greater chance of survival after a fire [33].

2.3. Soil Fungal Community Function

In boreal forests, the soil fungal community function showed temporal and spatial changes [19]. The saprotrophic fungi dominated the community in March and the community shifted gradually to symbiotic fungi dominance during the growing season (April to June) [34,35,36], as the saprotrophs are metabolically more active during periods of minimal or no photosynthesis in plants [36]. Spatially, the saprophytic fungi usually dominated the litter horizons with little seasonal variation, whereas the symbiotic fungi, especially ectomycorrhizas, were more abundant in the organic and mineral soil horizons [19,37,38].
The occurrence of wildfire in boreal forests can cause significant shift in fungal community function. The forests where fires had occurred a long time ago (e.g., 152 years post-fire) had higher abundance of the genes encoding chitinases, whereas the genes encoding the hemicellulose-degrading enzymes were more abundant in forests two years post-fire [24]. The increased fire frequency, or decreased fire return interval, could lead to losses in fungi that are important for carbon sequestration and could destabilize boreal regions as a carbon sink, particularly with additive carbon losses [39]. The proportions of mycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungi observed in the forests were strongly affected by the fire in the boreal and Mediterranean pine forest, with no mycorrhizal taxa observed one year after the fire and only a few observed in plots five years after the fire [27]. Unlike boreal forests, Mediterranean forests were able to observe mycorrhizal fungi one year after the fire. It is possible that the humid climatic environment of Mediterranean forests improves the adaptation of mycorrhizal fungi to fires [27]. Moreover, in addition to the course post-fire, the intensity of fire also affects the soil fungal community functions. It was proven that the increased fire severity can decline the species richness of mycorrhizas and saprotrophs in boreal forest [23] (Table 1).

3. Soil Fungal Community Structure and Function in Tropical and Subtropical Forests

3.1. Soil Fungal Community Diversity and Structure

Contrary to the boreal forests as carbon sequestration, the tropical forests play a critical role in the changing atmospheric carbon concentrations. They serve as an important source of carbon emissions and carbon sink as a result of the logging and burning [40]. Due to the significance of fungi in soil carbon dynamics, they are becoming non-negligible in tropical and subtropical forest ecosystems [41]. However, the study on the soil fungal community in tropical and subtropical forests is not as common as in the boreal forests. Among forest systems (boreal, temperate, tropical, and subtropical forest), the temperate forests have the highest soil fungal diversity, followed by the boreal forests, and then tropical and subtropical forests. The low diversity in tropical and subtropical forests may be due to the high plant diversity in the regions [42,43]. Gilbert (2005) suggested that the high plant diversity in tropical or subtropical systems resulted in a decrease in fungal specificity due to a lack of selective pressure for specialization, often resulting in low fungal diversity.
Peatland forest is one of the most common forest types in tropical and subtropical regions [44,45]. The fungal diversity in peatland forest is associated with some anthropogenic disturbances, such as deforestation and drainage, which can have significant impacts on soil fungal community [46]. For example, the soil fungal richness tends to be higher in pristine peatland than in disturbed peatland [46,47]. In subtropical forests, the soil fungi diversity and richness were significantly higher in the organic horizons than in the mineral horizons [48]. This pattern of variation is similar to that in the boreal forests, and the nutrient changes across soil profiles significantly and contributes to such observations [48,49]. Peatlands also are common in boreal forests. The fungal richness was higher in the drier boreal mire forests compared to the wet peatlands, suggesting that the decrease in water level in boreal peat forests favors the growth of fungi [50].
Similarly, as in the boreal forests, Ascomycota and Basidiomycota are the two dominant phyla in tropical forests, which accounted for half of the fungal community in abundance [46]. The abundance of Ascomycota was the highest in tropical forest soils than in other forest ecosystems [12]. Ascomycota is the most species-rich fungal phylum with the ability to degrade organic substrates (wood, leaf litter, etc.); it is also one of the most represented fungal guilds involved in saprotrophic behavior [12,51]. Since more litters are produced in tropical forests than other forests and the degradation rate of organic matter is faster, which can cause the increased abundance of Ascomycota. The phosphorus (P) content is normally low in the tropical forests, especially in peatland forest, which is an important factor affecting the soil fungal community [52]. With the decrease in phosphorus content in the soil, the fungal community shifts gradually from the saprotrophic (e.g., Mortierellaceae and Mycenaceae) dominance to saprotrophic and parasitic coexistence (e.g., Cordycipitaceae, Annulatascaceae, Teratosphaeriaceae, and Sympoventuriaceae) and then to the endophytic and epiphytic dominance (e.g., Clavicipitaceae) [53]. The natural peatland soils normally harbor more Gliocephalotrichum and Gymnopilus with saprotrophic ability than disturbed peatland (e.g., drainage and selective logging) [46,54].
In the subtropical forests, the abundance of Basidiomycota increased along the soil depth from the organic horizon (loose and partly decayed organic matter) to the mineral horizon [48,55,56]. This might be due to their symbiotic relationships with plant roots [57]. Mycena, Sistotrema, and Cryptoccocus (saprophytic fungi) were the most abundant genera in the litter horizon, while Russula and Lactarius (symbiotic fungi) were more abundant in the deeper soil horizon [48]. The plant renewal rates are faster in humid subtropical areas, and the litter in organic horizon is more abundant [58,59]; fungi that feed on cellulose and lignin tend to be more abundant [60], while the mycorrhizal fungi are more associated with plant root in the deeper soil horizon [57].

3.2. Soil Fungal Community Function

The tropical forests with the highest biodiversity on earth hide a large number of fungal species. Symbiotic fungi, especially endomycorrhizal, dominated the soil fungal community in tropical and subtropical forests [43]. The relative abundance of Ectomycorrhizal fungi (EcMF) was significantly lower than that in the boreal and temperate forests [43]. The surface litter layer was dominated by the saprophytic fungi, while the mycorrhizal fungi dominated in the deeper mineral soils, similar to that in the boreal and temperate forests [37].
The availability of P is thought to be one of the important factors affecting many biological processes in lowland tropical forests [61], which is a limiting nutrient in these forests [62,63]. The role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in P acquisition is well known [64], and there is evidence that different AMF differs in their ability to acquire and transport P to the plant host [65]. The shift in phosphorus acquisition strategies of AMF may cause the segregation of ecological niches [66]. In tropical and subtropical forests, the thicknesses of litter layers can determine AMF colonization due to the differences in phosphorus sources; for example, the thicker litter layers tend to harbor more AMF fungi [67]. With the increasing amount of litter, the AMF fungal hyphae proliferate in organic substrates [68] and grow into decomposing leaf litter [69,70], suggesting that AMF fungi may represent important pathways for plant uptake of nutrients in tropical and subtropical forests. Apart from this, the tropical and subtropical rainforests are characterized by a high presence of organic matter, and they can produce more litter than other ecosystems [71]. Such conditions result in an enrichment of pathogenic and saprotrophic fungi, while symbiotic fungi are present in lower number [71] (Table 1).

4. Soil Fungal Community Structure and Function in Temperate Forests

In temperate forests, the trend of soil fungal diversity along the vertical gradient is different from that in boreal, tropical, and subtropical forests. The fungal diversity and richness in the organic layer are higher than that in the mineral layer. Thoroughly, the fungi diversity and richness decreased in the organic soil from the raw litter layer to the humus layer and increased the mineral soil from the surface mineral layer to the mineral subsoil layer [72]. In addition, the forest stand age and moss cover are the most important predictors of fungal richness in temperate forests [73]. The fungal species richness showed decreasing trend in general with stand age (2-, 65-, and 110-year); that is, the fungal species richness was higher in 2-year than that in 110-year [74,75,76]. A decrease in fungal species richness was observed when the moss cover was higher [73]. Mosses are known to be recalcitrant substrates and can affect fungal growth by maintaining high water level and slowing down the nutrient cycle [77]. They also produce secondary metabolites, which are difficult to degrade by most saprophytic fungi [78]. Only a few specialized fungi can decompose moss tissues [44,79].
The overall soil fungal community is dominated by Basidiomycota and Ascomycota in the temperate forest. With the increase in the soil depth (from litter, humus, and mineral layer), the abundances of Ascomycota decreased and those of the Basidiomycota increased [80]. Agaricales, Helotiales, and Russulales are the fungal taxa commonly found in temperate forests [81,82,83,84,85]; similarly, these three taxa are frequently observed in boreal forests [23,86,87]. Fungi in the litter layer of temperate forests were more susceptible to seasonal influences [80]. In winter, some of the saprotrophs associated with litter decomposition significantly increased in abundance, e.g., Naevala, Rhodotorula and Cryptococcus [88]. The summer was characterized by a dramatic increase in of EcMF. For example, the abundance of Amanita, Lactarius, and Russula significantly increased [80]. The increased abundance of EcMF in late summer or autumn also has been reported previously in the boreal forests [89,90]. The species Mortierella alpina and Mucor hiemalis were more abundant mainly in the organic horizon than in the mineral layer [72], as they are common decomposers of litters from broadleaved trees [91,92]. With the increase in soil depth, the abundance of Phlebopus roseus and Sarocladium terricola increased, becoming the dominant fungal species in the mineral layer [72]. P. roseus and S. terricola can use organic derivatives as sole nutrient sources via excreting extracellular enzymes to directly cleave C–N–P bonds [93,94], which allow them to survive in the deeper mineral soil, a nutrient-poor environment.
Temperate forests cover the second largest area with a high plant diversity, in addition to the boreal forests [95]. The saprophytic fungi account for over half of the fungal community in the soil and litters, respectively, whereas other functional groups (e.g., symbiotrophs and pathogens) are also essential [96]. The temperate forests possess more seasonal climatic characteristics, in which the soil fungal potential functions are linked to the changes in aboveground hosts and seasons. In temperate broadleaf and coniferous forests, changes in litter type from the aboveground hosts resulted in significant variations in the distribution of saprotrophic fungi [97]. In general, the litter from evergreen host, containing more recalcitrant compounds, is decomposed slower than that from the deciduous host [98]. This difference in decomposition rate would affect the energy acquisition of the saprotrophic fungi. Therefore, the EcMF are still active in the evergreen forest as the carbon supply from symbiotic trees, while the saprotrophic fungi might be suppressed by the recalcitrant substrate. Seasonally, a higher abundance of EcMF was observed in mid-summer as the trees could allocate more of the newly synthesized carbon [90,99], whereas the abundance of saprotrophic fungi was significantly lower due to the inhibition of EcMF [100] (Table 1).
Table
Table 1. Soil fungal diversity, community composition, and function in different forest ecosystems.
Table 1. Soil fungal diversity, community composition, and function in different forest ecosystems.
Forest TypeFungal DiversityCommunity CompositionCommunity Function
Boreal forest
(1)
Higher fungal diversity and species richness than that in tropical and subtropical forests [18].
(2)
The fungal diversity and species richness decreased along increased soil depth [19,21].
(3)
The lowest fungal diversity and species richness were found in the forests where the fires had just occurred (0–3 years). With the increasing time of post-fire, the fungal diversity and species richness increased and stabilized after several decades [23,24,25,26].
(4)
The fungal diversity and species richness decreased with the increasing of fire intensity [23,27,28].
(1)
Basidiomycota dominated the fungal communities in each of the soil horizons with a similar relative abundance of over 60% [19].
(2)
Ascomycota tended to have higher relative abundance in the raw litter layer and then decreased with the increasing soil depth, whereas Zygomycota increased in abundance [19,21].
(3)
The abundance of Ascomycota increased and that of Basidiomycota decreased shortly after the fire occurred [24,29].
(1)
The saprotrophic fungi dominated the community in March and the community shifted gradually to symbiotic fungi dominance during the growing season (April to June) [34,35,36].
(2)
The forests where fires had occurred a long time ago had higher abundance of genes encoding chitinases, whereas the genes encoding the hemicellulose-degrading enzymes were more abundant in forests with a short history of fires [24].
(3)
The proportions of mycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungi were strongly affected by the fire. No mycorrhizal taxa observed one year after the fire and only a few observed 5 years after the fire [27].
(4)
The increased fire severity can decline the abundance of mycorrhizas and saprotrophs [23].
Tropical and subtropical forests
(1)
Harbored the lowest soil fungal diversity and species richness than other forest ecosystems [42,43].
(2)
The soil fungal richness tended to be higher in pristine peatland than that in disturbed peatland [46,47].
(3)
The soil fungi diversity and richness were significantly higher in the organic horizons than that in the mineral horizons in subtropical forests [48].
(1)
The abundance of Ascomycota was the highest than that in other forest ecosystems [12,46].
(2)
The abundance of Basidiomycota increased along the soil depth from the organic horizon (loose and partly decayed organic matter) to the mineral horizon [48,55,56].
(1)
Symbiotic fungi, especially endomycorrhizas dominated the fungal community [43].
(2)
The thicker litter layers tended to harbor more Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi AMF [67].
(3)
Enrichment of pathogenic and saprotrophic fungi, while symbiotic fungi were present in lower number due to high amount of organic matter [71].
(4)
The natural peatland soils normally harbored more saprotrophic fungi than the disturbed peatland [46,54].
Temperate forests
(1)
The fungi diversity and richness decreased in the organic soil from the raw litter layer to the humus layer and increased the mineral soil from the surface mineral layer to the mineral subsoil layer [72].
(2)
The fungal species richness showed decreasing trend in general with forest stand age [74,75,76].
(3)
A decrease in fungal species richness was observed when the moss cover was higher [73].
(1)
With the increase in the soil depth (from litter, humus, and mineral layer), the abundances of Ascomycota decreased and those of Basidiomycota increased [80].
(2)
Mortierella alpina and Mucor hiemalis were more abundant mainly in the organic horizon than in the mineral layer, with the increase in soil depth, the abundance of Phlebopus roseus and Sarocladium terricola increased, becoming the dominant fungal species in the mineral layer [72].
(1)
The saprophytic fungi accounted for over half of the fungal community in the soil and litters, respectively [96].
(2)
Seasonally, a higher abundance of Ectomycorrhizal fungi (EcMF) was observed in mid-summer, whereas the abundance of saprotrophic fungi was significantly lower due to the inhibition of EcMF [90,99,100].

5. DNA-Based High-Throughput Sequencing (HTS) Method to Study Fungal Community and Function in Forest Soil

It is challenging to identify soil fungi in forests by traditional culturable methods as most of the microbes in the soil cannot be cultured. With the rapid development of molecular techniques and sequencing technologies, advanced methods are currently available to assess the microbial community in natural environments, including forest systems [101]. Furthermore, high-throughput sequencing (HTS) is one of the most commonly used methods to investigate the microbial community composition and functions from environment, including the amplicon-based and whole genome shotgun (WGS) sequencing [102]. Metagenomics, with aid of HTS, is the study of the metagenome or the collective genome of microorganisms from an environmental sample [103], which can provide information on both microbial phylogenies and community metabolic functions, the evolutionary linkages between them, as well as the potential novel metabolites or enzymes in the environment [104]. The amplicon-based metagenomics is a highly targeted specific genomic region of HTS, which can discover the microbial composition by detection of the variations within the region of interest [105]. The targeted regions in microbial study are usually 16S rRNA gene for bacteria, internal transcribed spacers (ITS) for fungi, and 18S rRNA gene for micro- and unicellular eukaryotes across multiple species [105,106]. Moreover, WGS has been increasingly recognized as the most comprehensive and robust approach for metagenomics research [107]. When compared with amplicon-based metagenomics, it offers the advantage of identification of species-level taxonomy and the estimation of metabolic pathway activities from human and environmental samples. In addition, several DNA-based high-throughput methods have been developed to study the soil microbial community function, e.g., GeoChip and quantitative microbial element cycling (QMEC) [108,109]. The GeoChip is a DNA microarray designed to identify the functional genes involved in different biogeochemical processes, such as C, N, S, and P cycling [108]. The GeoChip array contains probes of gene markers covering microorganisms from archaea, bacteria, and fungi, which has been widely used as a high-throughput, metagenomic tool for profiling environmental microbial community. It is particularly useful in terms of community metabolic potential, functional structure and diversity, and correlation of microbial community structure to ecosystem functioning [24,108]. Quantitative microbial element cycling is a recently developed high-throughput quantitative PCR-based chip that quantifies microbial elemental cycles for assessing the genetic potential of microbiota involved in carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur cycles [109]. It can identify the structures, abundances, and diversities of the functional genes. QMEC contains 72 primer pairs targeting 72 microbial functional genes for C, N, P, S, and methane metabolism [109], which has been used to determine the absolute abundance of microbial functional genes in soil and sediment. For example, Chen et al. (2020) analyzed the genes involved in nitrification and denitrification in soil after fertilizer application [110].

6. Conclusions

Given the importance of fungi, variations in climatic conditions, and plant diversity in different forest ecosystems, the soil fungal community diversity and function differ to some extent along the temperature zones. Overall, the boreal forests harbored the highest soil fungal diversity and richness, followed by the temperate forests, and then the tropical and subtropical forests. The fungal diversity and richness declined along vertical gradients and saprophytic fungi dominated the litter layer in all forest ecosystems (boreal, temperate, tropical, and subtropical forest). Ectomycorrhizas are predominant in the mineral layers in boreal and temperate forests, while endomycorrhizal fungi are more abundant in the mineral layers in tropical and subtropical forests. The occurrence of boreal forest fires increases the abundance of genes encoding chitinase and hemicellulose-degrading enzymes and decreases the abundance of mycorrhizal and saprophytic fungi in the soil. Seasonally, the abundances of ectomycorrhizas are higher in summer and lower in winter in temperate forests, whereas the abundances of saprophytes have the opposite trend, that is, higher abundance in winter and lower abundance in summer. Moreover, recently developed high-throughput sequencing and metagenomics have greatly facilitated the microbial study in forest ecosystems and enable us to better understand the forest ecosystem functions.

Author Contributions

H.S. conceived the ideas, designed methodology, and received the funding. X.L., Z.Q., Y.Z., and Y.G. contributed to the writing of the manuscript. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

The research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31870474) and the research funding for Priority Academic Program Development (PAPD) of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

Not applicable.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Li, X.; Qu, Z.; Zhang, Y.; Ge, Y.; Sun, H. Soil Fungal Community and Potential Function in Different Forest Ecosystems. Diversity 2022, 14, 520. https://doi.org/10.3390/d14070520

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Li X, Qu Z, Zhang Y, Ge Y, Sun H. Soil Fungal Community and Potential Function in Different Forest Ecosystems. Diversity. 2022; 14(7):520. https://doi.org/10.3390/d14070520

Chicago/Turabian Style

Li, Xiaoli, Zhaolei Qu, Yuemei Zhang, Yan Ge, and Hui Sun. 2022. "Soil Fungal Community and Potential Function in Different Forest Ecosystems" Diversity 14, no. 7: 520. https://doi.org/10.3390/d14070520

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