Altitude distribution of fungal community in Huoditang in Qinling Mountains, Northwest China.

Abstract

Soil fungi play an important role in soil nutrient cycling and carbon storage in natural ecosystems. Dominant tree species showed altitude distribution in Huoditang forest in Qinling Mountains, whereas the corresponding changes of soil characteristics and microbial communities are still unclear. In this study, the variations of soil characteristics were investigated at five altitudes (1500, 1700, 1900, 2100 and 2300 m). The collected soil samples were sequenced by Illumina MiSeq sequencing platform, and the pattern of fungal community was studied. The results showed that soil available phosphorus concentration (AP) and soil pH increased significantly whereas soil moisture showed a downward trend with increasing altitude. The Shannon diversity index of soil fungi decreased and ACE richness index showed an opposite trend with increasing altitude. Basidiomycota (68.2%), Ascomycota (19.9%), and Mortierellomycota (1.7%) were dominant fungal phyla, which showed a 'U' shape or 'peak' pattern according to altitude. Agaricomycetes (64.2%), Sordariomycetes (5.8%), and Leotiomycetes (4.1%) were the dominant fungal classes. Results of redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that 89.1% of the total variations of soil fungal community were explained by soil characteristics, while AP, pH and altitude were the main driving factors for altitude variations of soil fungal communities. Soil characteristics had certain differences with altitude changes in Huoditang forest region in Qinling Mountains, which affected soil fungal community composition.