Abstract
The aim of the study was to investigate fungal genetic diversity in eight different types of soil in a long-term microplot experiment founded in 1881 in Puławy, Poland. The experiment consists of eight plots (14 m2), each 1 m deep with concrete walls, filled with profiles of different soils. The soils represent the most common Polish soil types (Cambic Leptosol, Fluvic Cambisol, Gleyic Chernozem, Cambisol and Haplic Cambisol, two Brunic Arenosols and Haplic Luvisol). Each soil was characterized by different pH (from 4.0 to 7.5) and organic carbon content (4.5–21.3 g kg-1). The soil structure was not destroyed by compaction because the soils had always been cultivated by hand. The same plant species were always grown in all plots at the same time and the soils received the same fertilization. Moreover, the soils were always under the same weather conditions. Ascomycota was the most abundant phylum in all samples, ranging from 70 to 90% of total fungi. Some genera (Mortierella, Solicoccozyma, and Mycosphaerella) were found to be adapted to a wide range of pH. Acidic soils were dominated by Talaromyces, Cladophialophora, Devriesia, and Saitozyma, while good quality soils primarily consisted of Plectosphaerella, Tetracladium, and Mortierella. The study confirmed previous reports that pH has a decisive influence on soil fungal diversity, but also indicated the strong impact of soil type itself. These studies have launched a new cycle of research in these historical soil profiles.
Highlights
The biological component of soil is extremely important for the maintenance of soil health (Doran and Zeiss, 2000)
It has already been demonstrated that some of the fungi belonging to Rozellomycota prefer soils with extreme pH values, but it has been suggested that the presence of eukaryotic hosts, for whom these fungi are obligatory pathogens, may be of greater importance (Tedersoo et al, 2017)
One of the concerns about this type of research is the likelihood of soil degradation due to the lack of access to primary parent rocks and water sources that occurred in the places where they originated
Summary
The biological component of soil is extremely important for the maintenance of soil health (Doran and Zeiss, 2000). The microbial component of the soil is responsible for a myriad of functions (80–90% of processes in soil are reactions mediated by microbes), including soil humus formation, cycling of nutrients, degradation of xenobiotics, improvement of soil structure, and effects on plant health (Nannipieri et al, 2003). We can find many definitions of soil quality that take into account various parameters (physical, chemical, microbiological, and biochemical). The most common is the definition that “soil quality indexes could be defined as the minimum set of parameters that, when interrelated, provide numerical data on the capacity of a soil to carry out one or more functions” (Acton and Padbury, 1994). No universal formula has been developed to allow
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