Metagenomic analysis of fungal assemblages at a regional scale in high-altitude temperate forest soils: alternative methods to determine diversity, composition and environmental drivers
2025

Studying Fungal Communities in Mountain Forest Soils

Sample size: 36 publication 10 minutes Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Stephanie Hereira-Pacheco, Itzel Arias-Del Razo, Alejandro Miranda-Carrazco, Luc Dendooven, Arturo Estrada-Torres, Yendi E. Navarro-Noya

Primary Institution: Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala

Hypothesis

The spatial composition of EcM fungi is mainly affected by vegetation type and its characteristics while that of saprophytic fungi by the edaphic variables.

Conclusion

Environmental, vegetation, and geographical factors significantly influence the spatial distribution of soil fungi at a regional scale.

Supporting Evidence

  • Different workflows yielded varying results in fungal community composition.
  • Environmental factors like pH and nutrient content were significant drivers of fungal communities.
  • Vegetation traits were more influential for symbiotrophic fungi than for saprotrophic and pathogenic fungi.
  • Dispersal limitation contributed to fungal community composition but was not the primary factor.

Takeaway

This study looked at how different types of fungi live in mountain soils and found that plants and soil conditions are really important for them.

Methodology

The study used environmental metagenomics and four bioinformatic workflows to analyze fungal communities in soil samples collected from various sites.

Potential Biases

Different bioinformatic workflows may lead to varying results in fungal community composition.

Limitations

The study's findings may be biased towards specific fungal guilds due to the different workflows used.

Statistical Information

P-Value

p<0.05

Statistical Significance

p<0.05

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.7717/peerj.18323

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