Geo-Distribution Patterns of Soil Fungal Community of Pennisetum flaccidum in Tibet

Pennisetum flaccidum can be used as a pioneer species for the restoration of degraded grasslands and as a high-quality forage for local yak and sheep in alpine regions. The geographical distribution pattern of soil fungal community can modify that of P. flaccidum. A field survey along 32 sampling sites was conducted to explore the geo-distribution patterns of soil fungal community of P. flaccidum in Tibet. Soil fungal species, phylogenetic and function diversity generally had a closer correlation with longitude/elevation than latitude. The geo-distribution patterns of soil fungal species, phylogenetic and function diversity varied with soil depth. Soil fungal species, phylogenetic and function diversity had dissimilar geo-distribution patterns. Precipitation had stronger impacts on total abundance, species alpha-diversity, phylogenetic alpha-diversity, and function beta-diversity than temperature for both topsoil (0-10 cm depth) and subtopsoil (10-20 cm depth). Furthermore, precipitation had stronger impacts on function alpha-diversity for topsoil, species beta-diversity for topsoil, and phylogenetic beta-diversity for subtopsoil than temperature. The combination of species, phylogenetic and function diversity can better reflect geo-distribution patterns of soil fungal community. Compared to global warming, the impact of precipitation change on the variation in soil fungal community of P. flaccidum should be given more attention.

Automated summary

This study investigated the geographical distribution patterns of soil fungal community of P. flaccidum and its relationship with environmental factors. The results showed that soil fungal diversity had a closer correlation with longitude/elevation and precipitation had a stronger impact on the fungal community compared to temperature. This study also highlighted the importance of considering precipitation change in addition to global warming when studying the variation in soil fungal community of P. flaccidum.