Distribution and functional data of fungal families

Fungi have unique ecosystem functions, such as organic matter decomposition, parasitism, and symbiosis with other organisms in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Their taxonomic and functional diversities are essential factors for predicting ecosystem functions and their responses to environmental changes. With the widespread use of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) in recent years, the detection of fungal DNA sequences in various regions and on different environmental substrates has advanced. HTS-obtained DNA sequences can be compared with those in databases to identify the taxa of organisms from which they are derived. Therefore, a global DNA database containing taxonomic information has been developed. However, functional data on the distribution and function of individual taxa remain scarce. In this study, the ecological information of each fungal family was compiled from review papers and published books. Specifically, the following information was collected: reported distribution (11 categories including information on the presence of fungi in Japan) and function (38 categories related to ecological functional data, such as guilds and habitats) of 553 families included in the literature. These data will provide information on the ecology of specific fungi detected in the field and help estimate the functional group composition and diversity of fungi from their DNA assemblage data. The detailed Metadata for this abstract published in the Data Article section of the journal is available in MetaCat in JaLTER at .

Automated summary

Fungi play unique roles in ecosystem functions and their taxonomic and functional diversities are important for predicting ecosystem functions. With the use of high-throughput sequencing, fungal DNA sequences can be detected and compared with databases to identify the taxa. However, functional data on individual taxa are limited. This study compiled ecological information of fungal families and provided a data basis for estimating fungal functional group composition and diversity.