Diversity of filamentous fungi communities in the soils of agroecological crop polycultures and the Atlantic Rain Forest

The study compared filamentous fungi communities from a Consortium of Plants (COP), Agroforestry Systems (AFS), and the Atlantic Rain Forest (ATF) in Northeastern Brazil to determine how different land uses influence the general parameters of the edaphic mycobiota. Physicochemical soil properties, microbial respiration rate, and biological diversity of the fungal communities were assessed. The COP showed a 36% similarity to the AFS that have greater plant diversity. Despite the low similarity, the mycobiota of both systems consisted of generalist fungi that act on the decomposition of organic matter, in addition to species with the potential to promote plant growth and control other microorganisms. The physicochemical properties of COP and AFS were more similar to each other (pH 5.4 and 5.3, P 16.3 and 13.7, K 0.3 and 0.3, Al 0.2 and 0.2, BS 34.0 and 31.0, m 5.6% and 4.0% in first collection and 9.3% and 14% in second collection, respectively) than ATF (pH 4.5, P 2.7, K 0.4, Al 1.1, BS 19.1, m 27.3% in first collection and 47.3% in second collection). These data reinforce the importance of crop diversification in agroecological soil management and suggest further research on filamentous fungi communities as soil quality indicators.

Automated summary

This study compared filamentous fungi communities from different land uses in Northeastern Brazil and found that despite the differences in plant diversity, the mycobiota of both systems consisted of generalist fungi that act on the decomposition of organic matter. The similar physicochemical properties of the systems suggest the importance of crop diversification in agroecological soil management.