Dynamics of fungal community structure in a silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) succession chronosequence on poor-quality post-arable soil

Abstract

Soil fungal communities are critical components in soil ecosystems, but experimental researches on their responses to the silver birch succession are limited. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP) – a type of glycoprotein produced by hyphae of AM fungi, are highly correlated with soil physicochemical parameters and are sensitive to changes in the soil environment. This study aimed to analyze the dynamics of a soil fungal community, with particular emphasis on the AM fungi and GRSP contents and their responses to a silver birch succession on abandoned post-arable land. The studies were conducted in central Poland and covered five stands that included arable field (AF) and fallow (FA) land, and 8-year-old/young (YS), 33-year-old/middle (MS), and 40-year-old/old (OS) successions of silver birch. The diversity and compositions of the fungal communities were examined using ITS high-throughput gene sequencing. We found that the dominant soil fungal phylum transitioned from Olpidiomycota through Ascomycota to Basidiomycota with the change from AF to OS. Silver birch development increased the soil fungal diversity and richness compared with that of the AF soil, but these decreased compared with the FA soil. The predominant fungi in the soils under silver birch development belonged to the families Pezizaceae, Russulaceae, and Cortinariceae. The birch succession significantly decreased the abundance of potential pathotrophs and increased the relative abundance of symbiotrophic fungi. The AM fungi abundance varied across the successional stages and was affected by plant cover and N content, and positively correlated with the EE-GRSP and T-GRSP contents. Additionally, the EE-GRSP and T-GRSP contents positively correlated with the TOC, N and SOM content, and Tp, and negatively correlated with Bd. Across the successional stages, the YS was devoid of AM fungi and characterized by the lowest EE-GRSP T-GRSP (1.89 mg g-1), Tp (43.4%), and TOC (7.3 g kg-1) and P (11.7 g kg-1) contents. In summary, the development of young silver birch on generally poor Brunic Arenosols tends to have a negative effect on the soil fungal community and selected soil properties, but these effects ease over time.