Community structure of fungi inhabiting select KBS soils.

Wright, C., E.A. Paul, C.A. Reddy, J.M. Tiedje, F. Trail, and T. M. Schmidt.

Presented at the All Scientist Meeting (2013-04-04 to 2013-04-05 )

Soil fungi outweigh all other soil microbiota in both richness of species and biomass (Dixon et al., 1994; Hawksworth, 2001). They extend many functions in the soil community; they’re common saprotrobes, plant symbionts, plant endophytes, and plant pathogens. They inherently possess genes encoding a wide array of degradative enzymes, and axiomatically play a dominant role in soil nutrient cycling, plant nutrition and biogeochemical cycling—including the rate-limiting step in the cycling of C (i.e. lignin deconstruction). They are also responsible for producing glomulin—a major component of soil organic matter that accounts for 27 percent of total soil C, making them a focal point for studies of soil C sequestration. The study of fungi inhabiting soils is, therefore, crucial to research in three priority areas of ecology: biodiversity, long term ecological research and global change. Despite their fundamental importance, however, soil fungi have—until as of late—been largely excluded from studies of soil micro-communities. Here, we examined the impact of differing agricultural land management practices at the W. K. Kellogg Biological Station in Hickory Corners, Michigan on the community structure and functional potential of the fungi inhabiting those soils.