Find research datasets worth reusing
Search datasets from major research repositories and use ShareScore to quickly assess how well each record supports discovery, access, and reuse.
308
datasets available to search
ShareScore release 0.9.0
Dataset results
308 results for “fungal community”
Soil fungal community and activity under dominant plant species at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico: October 2013
We measured fungal composition and activity in the soil under dominant plant species across a grassland to shrubland transition to determine if shrubs cultivate soil microbial communities as they encroach grasslands. The project was conducted in the northern Chihuahuan desert at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge (site of the Sevilleta LTER) in New Mexico on October 20, 2013. Soils were collected under one shrub (Larrea tridentata) and three grass (Bouteloua eriopoda, Bouteloua gracilis, Pleuraphis jamesii) species in grassland, shrubland, and the ecotone region between grasslands and shrublands. Soil fungal communities were evaluated using DNA amplicon sequencing and fungal activity was quantified using several extracellular enzyme activity assays. Soil texture and soil chemistry were also measured.
Fungal community structure associated with experimentally outplanted white spruce seedlings and the closest Salix and Betula nana shrubs, Toolik Lake, AK.
This dataset contains characterizations of fungal community structure associated with experimentally outplanted seedlings and adjacent naturally established resprouting shrubs.
Data collected by fruit body– and DNA-based survey methods yield consistent species-to-species association networks in wood-inhabiting fungal communities
<p>Inferring interspecific interactions indirectly from community data is of central interest in community ecology. Data on species communities can be surveyed using different methods, each of which may differ in the amount and type of species detected, and thus produce varying information on interaction networks. Since fruit bodies reflect only a fraction of the woodinhabiting fungal diversity, there is an ongoing debate in fungal ecology on whether fruit body– based surveys are a valid method for studying fungal community dynamics compared to surveys based on DNA metabarcoding. In this paper, we focus on species-to-species associations and ask whether the associations inferred from data collected by fruit-body surveys reflect the ones found from data collected by DNA-based surveys. We estimate and compare the association networks resulting from different survey methods using a joint species distribution model. We recorded both raw and residual associations that respectively do not and do correct for the influence of the abiotic predictors when estimating the species-to-species associations. The analyses of the DNA data yielded a larger number of species-to-species associations than the analyses of the fruit body–based data as expected. Yet, we estimated unique associations also from the fruit-body data. Our results show that the directions of estimated residual associations were consistent between the data types, whereas the raw associations were much less consistent, highlighting the need to account for the influence of relevant environmental covariates when estimating association networks. We conclude that even though DNA-based survey methods are more informative about the total number of interacting species, fruit-body surveys are also an adequate method for inferring association networks in wood-inhabiting fungi. Since the DNA and fruit-body data carry on complementary information on fungal communities, the most comprehensive insights are obtained by combining the two survey methods.</p>
Fungal sporocarps house diverse and host-specific communities of fungicolous fungi
<p class="Corps"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Sporocarps (fruit bodies) are the sexual reproductive stage in the life cycle of many fungi. They are highly nutritious and consequently vulnerable to grazing by birds and small mammals, and invertebrates, and can be infected by microbial and fungal parasites and pathogens. The complexity of communities thriving inside sporocarps is largely unknown. In this study, we revealed the diversity, taxonomic composition and host-preference of fungicolous fungi (i.e fungi that feed on other fungi) in sporocarps. We carried out DNA metabarcoding of the ITS2 region from 176 sporocarps of 11 wood-decay fungal host species, all collected within a forest in northeast Finland. We assessed the influence of sporocarp traits, such as lifespan, morphology and size, on the fungicolous fungal community. The level of colonisation by fungicolous fungi, measured as the proportion of non-host ITS2 reads, varied between 2.8-39.8% across the 11 host species and was largely dominated by Ascomycota. Host species was the major determinant of the community composition and diversity of fungicolous fungi, suggesting that host adaptation is important for many fungicolous fungi. Furthermore, the alpha-diversity was consistently higher in short-lived and resupinate sporocarps compared to long-lived and pileate ones, perhaps due to a more hostile environment for fungal growth in the latter too. The fungicolous fungi represented numerous lineages in the fungal tree of life, among which a significant portion was poorly represented with reference sequences in databases. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
Data from: Contrasting patterns of functional diversity in coffee root fungal communities associated with organic and conventionally-managed fields
<p>The structure and function of fungal communities in the coffee rhizosphere is shaped by crop environment. Because coffee can be grown along a management continuum from conventional application of pesticides and fertilizers in full sun to organic management in a shaded understory, we used coffee fields to hold host constant while comparing rhizosphere fungal communities in markedly different environmental conditions with regard to shade and inputs. We characterized the shade and soil environment in 25 fields under conventional, organic or transitional management in two regions of Costa Rica. We amplified the ITS2 region of fungal DNA from coffee roots in these fields and characterized the rhizosphere fungal community via high-throughput sequencing. Sequences were assigned to guilds to determine differences in functional diversity and trophic structure among coffee field environments. Organic fields had more shade, a greater richness of shade tree species, more leaf litter, and were less acidic, with lower soil nitrate availability and higher soil copper, calcium, and magnesium than conventionally-managed fields, although differences between organic and conventionally-managed fields in shade, calcium and magnesium depended on region. Differences in richness and community composition of rhizosphere fungi between organic and conventionally-managed fields were also correlated with shade, soil acidity, nitrate, and copper. Trophic structure differed with coffee field management. Saprotrophs, plant pathogens, and mycoparasites were more diverse and plant pathogens were more abundant in organic than in conventionally-managed fields, while saprotroph-plant pathogens were more abundant in conventionally-managed fields. These differences reflected environmental differences and depended on region.</p> <p><b>IMPORTANCE</b></p> <p>Rhizosphere fungi play key roles in ecosystems, as nutrient cyclers, pathogens, and mutualists, yet little is currently known about which environmental factors and how agricultural management shape rhizosphere fungal communities and their functional diversity. This field study of the coffee agroecosystem suggests that organic management not only fosters a greater overall diversity of fungi, but also maintains a greater richness of saprotrophic, plant pathogenic and mycoparasitic fungi that has implications for efficiency of nutrient cycling and regulation of plant pathogen populations in agricultural systems. As well as influencing community composition and richness of rhizosphere fungi, shade management and use of fungicides and synthetic fertilizers altered the trophic structure of the coffee agroecosystem.</p>
Data from: Does warming by open-top chambers induce change in the root-associated fungal community of the arctic dwarf shrub Cassiope tetragona (Ericaceae)?
Climate change may alter mycorrhizal communities, which impact ecosystem characteristics such as carbon sequestration processes. These impacts occur at a greater magnitude in Arctic ecosystems, where the climate is warming faster than in lower latitudes. Cassiope tetragona (L.) D. Don is an Arctic plant species in the Ericaceae family with a circumpolar range. C. tetragona has been reported to form ericoid mycorrhizal (ErM) as well as ectomycorrhizal (ECM) symbioses. In this study, the fungal taxa present within roots of C. tetragona plants collected from Svalbard were investigated using DNA metabarcoding. In light of ongoing climate change in the Arctic, the effects of artificial warming by open-top chambers (OTCs) on the fungal root community of C. tetragona were evaluated. We detected only a weak effect of warming by OTCs on the root-associated fungal communities that was masked by the spatial variation between sampling sites. The root fungal community of C. tetragona was dominated by fungal groups in the Basidiomycota traditionally classified as either saprotrophic or ECM symbionts, including the orders Sebacinales and Agaricales and the genera Clavaria, Cortinarius, and Mycena. Only a minor proportion of the operational taxonomic units (OTUs) could be annotated as ErM-forming fungi. This indicates that C. tetragona may be forming mycorrhizal symbioses with typically ECM-forming fungi, although no characteristic ECM root tips were observed. Previous studies have indicated that some saprophytic fungi may also be involved in biotrophic associations, but whether the saprotrophic fungi in the roots of C. tetragona are involved in biotrophic associations remains unclear. The need for more experimental and microscopy-based studies to reveal the nature of the fungal associations in C. tetragona roots is emphasized.
Data from: A heritable symbiont and host-associated factors shape fungal endophyte communities across spatial scales
1. Although microbial ecologists are intensely interested in the processes governing microbial community assembly, progress has been limited by a lack of studies that span multiple geographical scales and levels of biological organization. 2. We used high throughput sequencing to characterize foliar fungal endophyte communities and host plant genetic structure both within, and among, 24 populations of spotted locoweed (Astragalus lentiginosus) across the Great Basin Desert. 3. Across the Great Basin, both within, and among populations of the host plant, fungal endophyte richness was predicted by plant size and variation in the seed-borne, heritable fungus, Alternaria fulva, which produces the bioactive alkaloid swainsonine. 4. The degree of between-plant turnover in the endophyte community was inversely related to host plant inbreeding and average plant size, and positively related to the relative abundance of A. fulva. Plant size was inversely related to endophyte community richness, both among, and within populations. The genetic and physical distance between host populations was not predictive of differences in fungal community structure. 5. Synthesis: Through pairing intensive local- and regional sampling, we uncovered a primacy of deterministic forces imposed by a heritable symbiont on the community structure of locoweed endophytes.
Data from: Environmental filtering structures fungal endophyte communities in tree bark
<p>The factors that control the assembly and composition of endophyte communities across plant hosts remains poorly understood. This is especially true for endophyte communities inhabiting inner tree bark, one of the least studied components of the plant microbiome. Here, we test the hypothesis that bark of different tree species acts as an environmental filter structuring endophyte communities, as well as the alternative hypothesis, that bark acts as a passive reservoir that accumulates a diverse assemblage of spores and latent fungal life stages. We develop a means of extracting high‐quality DNA from surface sterilized tree bark to compile the first culture‐independent study of inner bark fungal communities. We sampled a total of 120 trees, spanning five dominant overstorey species across multiple sites in a mixed temperate hardwood forest. We find that each of the five tree species harbour unique assemblages of inner bark fungi and that angiosperm and gymnosperm hosts harbour significantly different fungal communities. Chemical components of tree bark (pH, total phenolic content) structure some of the differences detected among fungal communities residing in particular tree species. Inner bark fungal communities were highly diverse (mean of 117–171 operational taxonomic units per tree) and dominated by a range of Ascomycete fungi living asymptomatically as putative endophytes. Together, our evidence supports the hypothesis that tree bark acts as an environmental filter structuring inner bark fungal communities. The role of these potentially ubiquitous and plant‐specific fungal communities remains uncertain and merits further study.</p>
Data from: Species decline under nitrogen fertilization increases community-level competence of fungal diseases
The artificial fertilization of soils can alter the structure of natural plant communities and exacerbate pathogen emergence and transmission. Although the direct effects of fertilization on disease resistance in plants have received some research attention, its indirect effects of altered community structure on the severity of fungal disease infection remain largely uninvestigated. We designed manipulation experiments in natural assemblages of Tibetan alpine meadow vegetation along a nitrogen-fertilization gradient over 5 years to compare the relative importance of direct and indirect effects of fertilization on foliar fungal infections at the community level. We found that species with lower proneness to pathogens were more likely to be extirpated following fertilization, such that community-level competence of disease, and thus community pathogen load, increased with the intensity of fertilization. The amount of nitrogen added (direct effect) and community disease competence (indirect effect) provided the most parsimonious combination of parameters explaining the variation in disease severity. Our experiment provides a mechanistic explanation for the dilution effect in fertilized, natural assemblages in a highly specific pathogen–host system, and thus insights into the consequences of human ecosystem modifications on the dynamics of infectious diseases.
Stem decomposition of temperate tree species is determined by stem traits and fungal community composition during early stem decay
<p>Dead trees are vital structural elements in forests playing key roles in the carbon and nutrient cycle. Stem traits and fungal community composition are both important drivers of stem decay, and thereby affect ecosystem functioning, but their relative importance for stem decomposition over time remains unclear.</p> <p>To address this issue, we used a common garden decomposition experiment in a Dutch larch forest hosting fresh logs from 13 common temperate tree species. In total 25 fresh wood and bark traits were measured as indicators of wood accessibility for decomposers, nutritional quality, and chemical or physical defense mechanisms. After one and four years of decay, we assessed the richness and composition of wood-inhabiting fungi using amplicon sequencing and determined the proportional wood density loss.</p> <p>Average proportional wood density loss for the first year was 18.5%, with further decomposition occurring at a rate of 4.3% yr<sup>-1</sup> for the subsequent three years across tree species. Proportional wood density loss varied widely across tree species in the first year (8.7-24.8% yr<sup>-1</sup>) and subsequent years (0-11.3% yr<sup>-</sup><sup>1</sup>). The variation was directly driven by initial wood traits during the first decay year, then later directly driven by bark traits and fungal community composition. Moreover, bark traits affected the composition of wood-inhabiting fungi and thereby indirectly affected decomposition rates. Specifically, traits promoting resource acquisition of the living tree, such as wide conduits that increase accessibility and high nutrient concentration, increased initial wood decomposition rates. Fungal community composition, but not fungal richness explained differences in wood decomposition after four years of exposure in the field, where fungal communities dominated by brown-rot and white-rot Basidiomycetes were linked to higher wood decomposition rate.</p> <p><em>Synthesis.</em> Understanding what drives deadwood decomposition through time is important to understand the dynamics of carbon stocks. Here, using a tailor-made experimental design in a temperate forest setting, we have shown that stem trait variation is key to understanding the roles of these drivers; Initially, wood traits explained decomposition rates while subsequently, bark traits and fungal decomposer composition drove decomposition rates. These findings inform forest management with a view to selecting tree species to promote carbon storage.</p>
Data from: Effects of pesticides on soil bacterial, fungal and protist communities, soil functions and crop quality in vineyards
<p>Pesticides can have unintentional effects on non-target organisms and change biotic communities. Such changes might be particularly important in soil microbial communities which drive many ecosystem functions and may affect crop quality. Here, we investigated, in a 3-year study, how vegetation control (by herbicide application) and soil copper content (from long-term copper-based fungicide application), affect biodiversity and the community structure of soil bacteria, fungi and protists and associated soil functions (respiration, decomposition) in Swiss vineyards. Furthermore, we determined the effects of these two management practices on grape quality as the most direct ecosystem service to farmers. Across all study years, the community composition of microorganisms was affected by herbicide application, however, a significant loss of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) was only observed in fungi and protists. Soil copper content reduced OTU richness of bacteria and protists in some years but had no significant effect on fungal richness. Copper changed the community composition in all three groups of soil microorganisms. While we found no effect of copper on soil functions, herbicide application reduced microbial respiration and biomass by about 39% and 45% respectively. However, decomposition rates remained virtually unchanged by any pesticide. Yeast assimilable nitrogen (YAN) levels in grape must were below the critical threshold of 140 mg/L in 40% of the vineyards without herbicide application and the variety Chasselas , whereas in vineyards with herbicide application it was only 20%. Synthesis and applications: Application of pesticides led to changes in richness and composition of soil microbial communities and directly reduced some soil functions (microbial biomass and respiration), but not all (decomposition). Some grape quality parameters can be indirectly enhanced by pesticide application, highlighting the trade-off between the interests of nature conservation and the interests of the farmer. Balancing these two diverging interests requires the establishment of alternative vineyard management allowing reduced pesticide application.</p>
Data from: Reindeer control over subarctic treeline alters soil fungal communities with potential consequences for soil carbon storage
<p>Here we present the data and R script from "<em>Reindeer control over subarctic treeline alters soil fungal communities with potential consequences for soil carbon storage</em>" by Henni Ylänne, Rieke L. Madsen, Carles Castaño, Daniel B. Metcalfe and Karina E. Clemmensen (Global Change Biology, 2021). In this study we reported the impacts of grazing regime and mountain birch vicinity on the abundance, diversity and community composition of the soil fungal community, and explored how the soil fungal communities relate to vegetation and, ultimately, to the observed variation in soil carbon stocks. The study was conducted at a treeline ecotone in northern Fennoscandia, where two adjacent 65-year-old grazing regimes with or without summer grazing by reindeer (<i>Rangifer tarandus</i>) could be compared. As these grazing regimes differ in the abundance of mountain birch (<i>Betula pubescens</i> ssp. <i>czerepanovii</i>), the own effects of mountain birch vicinity on the fungal communities were assessed by collecting soil samples directly underneath and > 3 m away from mountain birches.</p> <p>This dataset includes data of soil properties, soil carbon and nitrogen stocks, vegetation community composition (as deterred from plant reads captured by the high-throughput sequencing of ITS2 region), fungal abundance (ITS2 copy numbers), fungal diversity and the taxonomic and functional composition of the soil fungal communities.</p>
Light availability and light demand of plants shape the arbuscular fungal communities in their roots
<p>Plants involved in the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis trade photosynthetically derived carbon for fungal-provided soil nutrients. However, little is known about how plant light demand and ambient light conditions influence root-associating AM fungal communities.</p> <p>We conducted a manipulative field experiment to test whether plants' shade tolerance influences their root AM fungal communities in open and shaded grassland sites. We found similar light-dependent shifts shifts in AM fungal community structure for experimental bait plant roots and the surrounding soil. Yet, deviation from the sorrounding soil towards lower AM fungal beta-diversity in the roots of shade-intolerant plants in shade suggested preferential carbon allocation to specific AM fungi in conditions where plant-assimilated carbon available to fungi was limited. We conclude that favourable environmental conditions widen the plant biotic niche, as demonstrated here with optimal light availability reducing plants' selectivity for specific AM fungi, and promote compatibility with a larger number of AM fungal taxa.</p> <p>The deposited dataset contains the raw fungal sequence table for each sample and information on the characteristics of the sample (light treatment, sample type, sampling point in time etc).</p>
Links between boreal forest management, soil fungal communities and belowground carbon sequestration
<p>Forest management has a potential to alter belowground carbon storage. However, the underlying mechanisms, and the relative importance of carbon input and decomposition in regulation of soil carbon dynamics are poorly understood.</p> <p>We examined whether interactive effects of forest fertilization and thinning on carbon stocks in the topsoil of boreal forests were linked to changes in fungal community composition, biomass, and enzyme activities, in a long-term fertilization and thinning experiment distributed across 29 Pinus sylvestris forests along a 1300 km latitudinal transect in Sweden.</p> <p>Nitrogen fertilization increased fungal biomass, particularly towards the north and mainly by promoting root associated Ascomycetes, but the response was moderated by thinning. Fungal biomass correlated positively with carbon stocks in the organic topsoil. However, ectomycorrhizal Cortinarius species were reduced in abundance by fertilization and correlated negatively with carbon stocks.</p> <p>Plausibly, increased soil carbon stocks after fertilization are linked to increased input of carbon in the form of root-associated mycelium combined with loss of ectomycorrhizal decomposers within the genus Cortinarius. These fungal responses to fertilization may mediate a natural climate solution by promoting carbon sequestration in the organic topsoil, but the effect of fertilization may also be undesired from a biodiversity perspective.</p>
Data and code from: Traits and phylogenies modulate the environmental responses of wood-inhabiting fungal communities across spatial scales
<p>Identifying the spatial scales at which community assembly processes operate is fundamental for gaining a mechanistic understanding of the drivers shaping ecological communities. In this study, we examined whether and how traits and phylogenetic relationships structure fungal community assembly across spatial scales.</p> <p>We applied joint species distribution modelling to a European-scale dataset on 215 wood-inhabiting fungal species, which includes data on traits, phylogeny and environmental variables measured at the local (log-level) and regional (site-level) scales.</p> <p>At the local scale, wood-inhabiting fungal communities were mostly structured by deadwood decay stage, and the trait and phylogenetic patterns along this environmental gradient suggested the lack of diversifying selection.</p> <p>At regional scales, fungal communities and their trait distributions were influenced by climatic and connectivity-related variables. The fungal climatic niches were not phylogenetically structured, suggesting that diversifying selection or stabilizing selection for climatic niches has played a strong role in wood-inhabiting communities. In contrast, we found a strong phylogenetic signal in the responses to connectivity-related variables, revealing phylogenetic homogenization in small and isolated forests.</p> <p>Altogether, our results show that species-level traits and phylogenies modulate the responses of wood-inhabiting fungi to environmental processes acting at different scales. This result suggests that the evolutionary histories of fungal traits diverge along different environmental axes.</p>
Data from: Landscape context and substrate characteristics shape fungal communities of dead spruce in urban and semi-natural forests
<p>Data from:</p> <p>Korhonen, A., Miettinen, O., Kotze, D.J., & Hamberg, L. (2022). Landscape context and substrate characteristics shape fungal communities of dead spruce in urban and semi-natural forests. Environmental Microbiology. DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.15903</p> <p>This dataset contains occurrence data of 475 fungal ITS2 sequence clusters (OTUs) across 360 sequenced samples originating from dead wood of Norway spruce (<em>Picea abies</em>). Wood samples were collected from 90 downed spruce trunks, at four points from each trunk. Trunks were at intermediate stages of decay and located in spruce-dominated stands in 24 urban forests (66 trunks) and in 8 rural semi-natural forests (24 trunks) in southern Finland. The data consists of an OTU table (sequence read counts in each sample) and sample metadata (locality information, trunk characteristics and environmental variables).</p>
Data from: Changes in the foliar fungal community between oak leaf flushes along a latitudinal gradient in Europe
<p><strong>Aim:</strong> To advance our understanding of how foliar fungal communities are structured and assembled, we assessed to what extent leaf flush and latitude can explain the within- and among-tree variation in the foliar fungal community in a foundation tree species, the pedunculate oak <em>Quercus robur</em>.</p> <p><strong>Location:</strong> A latitudinal gradient spanning <em>c</em>. 20 degrees in latitude in Europe.</p> <p><strong>Major taxa studied:</strong> The foliar fungal community on <em>Quercus robur.</em></p> <p><strong>Methods:</strong> We examined the main and interactive effects of leaf flush and latitude on the foliar fungal community by sampling 20 populations of the pedunculate oak <em>Quercus robur</em> across the tree's range, spanning <em>c</em>. 20 degrees in latitude.</p> <p><strong>Results:</strong> Species composition, but not species richness, differed between leaf flushes. Across the latitudinal gradient, species richness was highest in the central part of the oak's distributional range, and foliar fungal community composition shifted along the latitudinal gradient. Among fungal guilds, the relative abundance of plant pathogens and mycoparasites was lower on the first leaf flush, and the relative abundance of plant pathogens and saprotrophs decreased with latitude.</p> <p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Changes in community composition between leaf flushes and along the latitudinal gradient were mostly a result of species turnover. Overall, our findings demonstrate that leaf flush and latitude explain 5-22% of the small- and large-scale spatial variation in the foliar fungal community on a foundation tree within the temperate region, with major consequences for plant health, species interactions and ecosystem dynamics.</p>
Data from: Mast seeding in European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is associated with reduced fungal sporocarp production and community diversity
<p>A time series of seed production data from European beech (<em>Fagus sylvatica</em>) was combined with a fungal census (1977 to 2006) from La Chanéaz Fungus Reserve to evaluate the relationship between mast seeding and fungal resource availability. Annual fungal species' counts, traits, contemporaneous weather and seed production data are available here, alongside the code used to complete the analyses.</p>
TreeGrow - Data from: Morphology, bud burst and root fungal communities of Norway spruces (Picea abies)
<p>Our study delved into the relationship between root-associated fungi, gene expression and plant morphology in Norway spruce cuttings derived from both slow-and fast-growing trees. We found no clear link between the gene expression patterns of adventitious roots and the growth phenotype, suggesting no fundamental differences in the receptiveness to fungal symbionts between the phenotypes. Interestingly, saplings from slow-growing parental trees exhibited a higher richness of ectomycorrhizal species and larger roots. Some ectomycorrhizal species, typically found on mature spruces, were more prevalent on saplings from slow-growing spruces. The ericoid mycorrhizal fungus, Hyaloscypha hepaticola, showed a stronger association with saplings from fast-growing spruces. Moreover, saplings from slow-growing spruces had a greater number of Ascomycete taxa and free-living saprotrophic fungi. Aboveground sapling stems displayed some phenotypic variation; saplings from fast-growing phenotypes had longer branches but fewer whorls in their stems compared to those from the slow-growing group. In conclusion, the observed root-associated fungi and phenotypic characteristics in young Norway spruces may play a role in their long-term growth rate. This suggests that the early interactions between spruces and fungi could potentially influence their growth trajectory.</p>
Response of soil fungal communities and their co-occurrence patterns to grazing exclusion in different grassland types
<p>Overgrazing and climate change are the main causes of grassland degradation, and grazing exclusion is one of the most common measures for restoring degraded grasslands worldwide. Soil fungi can respond rapidly to environmental stresses, but the response of different grassland types to grazing control has not been uniformly determined. Three grassland types (temperate desert, temperate steppe grassland, and mountain meadow) that were closed for grazing exclusion for nine years were used to study the effects of grazing exclusion on soil nutrients as well as fungal community structure in the three grassland types. The results showed that (1) in the 0–5 cm soil layer, grazing exclusion significantly affected the soil water content of the three grassland types (<em>P</em><0.05), and the pH, total phosphorous (TP) and nitrogen-to-phosphorous ratio (N/P) changed significantly in all three grassland types (<em>P</em><0.05). Significant changes in soil nutrients in the 5–10 cm soil layer after grazing exclusion occurred in the mountain meadow grasslands (<em>P</em><0.05), but not in the temperate desert and temperate steppe grasslands. (2) For the different grassland types, Archaeorhizomycetes was most abundant in the montane meadows, and Dothideomycetes was most abundant in the temperate desert grasslands and was significantly more abundant than in the remaining two grassland types (<em>P</em><0.05). Grazing exclusion let to insignificant changes in the dominant soil fungal phyla and in α diversity but significant changes in the β diversity of soil fungi (<em>P</em><0.05). (3) Grazing exclusion areas have higher mean clustering coefficients and modularity classes than grazing areas. In particular, the highest modularity class is found in temperate steppe grassland grazing exclusion areas. (4) We also found that pH is the main driving factor affecting soil fungal community structure, that plant coverage is a key environmental factor affecting soil community composition, and that grazing exclusion indirectly affects soil fungal communities by affecting soil nutrients. The above results suggest that grazing exclusion may regulate microbial ecological processes by changing the soil fungal β diversity in the three grassland types. Grazing exclusion is not conducive to the recovery of soil nutrients in areas with mountain meadow but improves the stability of soil fungi in temperate steppe grassland. Therefore, the type of degraded grassland should be considered when formulating suitable restoration programmes when grazing exclusion measures are implemented. The results of this study provide new insights into the response of soil fungal communities to grazing exclusion, providing a theoretical basis for the management of degraded grassland restoration.</p>
ScienceDex guides
Understand access before you commit
These curated guides explain access requirements, typical timelines, costs, and reuse considerations for widely used research datasets.
Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.