Distribution Pattern and Diversity Maintenance Mechanisms of Fungal Community in Subalpine Lakes

Abstract

The composition and diversity of fungal communities are essential to maintain the ecosystem balance of subalpine lakes. The aquatic fungal communities at different depths from the subalpine Pipahai (PPH, 0, 2, 4 m), Mayinghai (MYH, 0, 2, 4, 6 m), and Gonghai (GH, 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 m) lakes were studied. In addition to that, the distribution pattern and diversity maintenance mechanism (determination process vs. random process) of fungal communities were explored using high-throughput sequencing. The results showed that the physicochemical parameters of the water were significantly different among the three lakes. The pH, electrical conductivity (EC), ammonia nitrogen (NH4+-N), total carbon (TC), and inorganic carbon (IC) of GH were significantly higher than in the other two lakes. The fungal community was mainly composed of Ascomycota (0.82%-21.05%), Basidiomycota (1.26%-11.79%), Chytridiomycota (0.42%-4.26%), and Rozellomycota (0.11%-0.33%). Cystobasidiomycetes, Dothideomycetes, Chytridiomycetes, and Sordariomycetes were the dominant classes shared by the three lakes. The α-diversity index and the relative abundance of dominant classes were significantly different among the three lakes (P<0.05), but there were no significant differences between the various depths on each lake. The results of the ANOSIM analysis showed that the β-diversity of the fungal communities were significantly different (r=0.99, P<0.01) among the lakes. There was also expressive differences at various depths on MYH (r=0.98, P<0.01) and GH (r=0.25, P<0.05), but no significant difference in PPH (r=0.23, P>0.05). The analysis results of redundancy and variation partitioning showed that the β-diversity pattern of fungal communities in small region areas (among the three lakes) and local areas (different depths of MYH) were driven by environmental selection and dispersal limitation. However, the relative role of environmental selection was more significant, with water pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), TC, and EC being the main influencing factors. The results of the null model analysis showed that the interspecific interactions promoted the maintenance of the β-diversity pattern of the fungal community in GH. In summary, the β-diversity pattern of fungal communities in the subalpine lakes was mainly driven by a deterministic process.