Soil Fungal Communities under Pinus patula Schiede ex Schltdl. & Cham. Plantation Forests of Different Ages in Ethiopia

Abstract

The cultivation of plantation forests is likely to change the diversity and composition of soil fungal communities. At present, there is scant information about these communities in Ethiopian plantation forest systems. We assessed the soil fungal communities in Pinus patula Schiede ex Schltdl. & Cham. stands aged 5, 11, or 36-years-old using DNA metabarcoding of ITS2 amplicons. The ecological conditions of each plot, such as climate, altitude, and soil, were similar. Stand age and soil fertility influenced soil fungal species diversity and ecological guilds. In total, 2262 fungal operational taxonomic units were identified, of which 2% were ectomycorrhizal (ECM). The diversity of ECM fungi was higher in the 5 and 36-year-old stands than in the 11-year-old P. patula stands. Contrary to our expectations, a high level of ECM species diversity was observed in young stands, suggesting that these ECM species could compensate for the effects of nutrient stress in these stands. Our results also suggested that the abundance of plant pathogens and saprotrophs was not affected by stand age. This study provides baseline information about fungal community changes across tree stands of different ages in P. patula plantations in Ethiopia that are likely related to ECM fungi in young stands where relatively low soil fertility prevails. However, given that the plots were established in a single stand for each age class for each treatment, this study should be considered as a case study and, therefore, caution should be exercised when applying the conclusions to other stands.

Exploring the Relationships between Macrofungi Diversity and Major Environmental Factors in Wunvfeng National Forest Park in Northeast China

“…Our results differ from those of Gao [57], who found more EM fungi in P. koraiensis forests (aged < 150 years). On the one hand, EM fungi may need more time to form a stable symbiosis with the host plants [58]; on the other hand, the exotic trees have difficulty developing long-lasting symbiotic relationships with local EM fungi [59].…”

Metabarcoding analysis of the soil fungal community to aid the conservation of underexplored church forests in Ethiopia

“…Of these, the genus Tomentella is frequently found in coniferous and deciduous forests worldwide 61 . However, the existence of these ectomycorrhizal species in the Alemsaga church forest may be due to the dispersion of mycorrhizal inocula from nearby plantation forests, which are dominated by Eucalyptus and Pinus species 62 , which are ectomycorrhizal-associated. This finding may be an indicator of the ecological restoration status of the trophic structure of the soil fungal community 55 .…”

Morfotipos de ectomicorrizas en una cronosecuencia de rodales de Pinus patula Schiede ex Schltdl. & Cham. en la zona este de México

“…Estos autores señalan que no encontraron especies de HECM en rodales de 5 años, pero citan un incremento de esporomas HECM en rodales de 11 a 36 años. Alem et al (2020) sugieren que el aclareo y el uso previo de suelo son los principales factores que modulan las comunidades edáficas de HECM en P. patula. Estos autores sugieren que rodales de 5 y 36 años son más diversos en cuanto a especies HECM, en comparación con rodales intermedios de 11 años, lo que se debe al poco desarrollo del dosel y a la posibilidad de que el sitio fuese utilizado, previamente, para fines agrícolas; por ello, presenta alto número de propágulos asociados a estadios jóvenes procedentes del banco de esporas de las plantaciones adyacentes.…”

“…Las plantaciones con hospederos introducidos presentan baja riqueza de HECM (<50 taxa), con respecto a las plantaciones establecidas con hospederos nativos (Ning et al, 2020). En este contexto, Alem et al (2020) documentan que en una plantación de Pinus patula en Etiopia, con diferentes clases de edades (5, 11 y 36 años), 41 % de las unidades taxonómicas operativas (OTU, por sus siglas en inglés) de los hongos identificados fueron saprobios, 7 % patógenos y 2 % HECM.…”