Soil fungal communities drive diverse ecological processes and are critical in maintaining ecosystems’ stability, but the effects of plant invasion on soil fungal diversity, community composition, and functional groups are not well understood. Here, we investigated soil fungal communities in a salt marsh ecosystem with both native (Suaeda salsa) and exotic (Spartina alterniflora) species in the Yellow River Delta. We characterized fungal diversity based on the PCR-amplified Internal Transcribed Spacer 2 (ITS2) DNA sequences from soil extracted total DNA. The plant invasion evidently decreased fungal richness and phylogenetic diversity and significantly altered the taxonomic community composition (indicated by the permutation test, P < 0.001). Co-occurrence networks between fungal species showed fewer network links but were more assembled because of the high modularity after the invasion. As indicated by the fungal Bray-Curtis and weighted UniFrac distances, the fungal community became homogenized with the invasion. FUNGuild database analyses revealed that the invaded sites had a higher proportion of saprophytic fungi, suggesting higher organic matter decomposition potential with the invasion. The plant invasion dramatically inhibited the growth of pathogenic fungi, which may facilitate the expansion of invasive plants in the intertidal habitats. Soil pH and salinity were identified as the most important edaphic factors in shaping the fungal community structures in the context of Spartina alterniflora invasion. Overall, this study elucidates the linkage between plant invasion and soil fungal communities and poses potential consequences for fungal contribution to ecosystem function, including the decomposition of soil organic substrates.

土壤真菌群落驱动着多样化的生态过程，对于维持生态系统的稳定性至关重要，但是人们对植物入侵对土壤真菌多样性，群落组成和功能群的影响知之甚少。在这里，我们调查了黄河三角洲盐沼生态系统中的土壤真菌群落，包括本地（Suaeda salsa）和外来（Spartina alterniflora）物种。我们基于从土壤中提取的总DNA的PCR扩增的内部转录间隔区2（ITS2）DNA序列表征了真菌多样性。植物的入侵明显降低了真菌的丰富性和系统发育多样性，并显着改变了生物分类群落的组成（通过排列试验表明，P<0.001）。真菌物种之间的共现网络显示出较少的网络链接，但由于入侵后的高度模块化而组装得更多。如真菌Bray-Curtis和加权的UniFrac距离所示，真菌群落随着入侵而变得同质。FUNGuild数据库分析表明，入侵部位的腐生真菌比例更高，表明入侵时有机物分解的可能性更高。植物的入侵极大地抑制了病原真菌的生长，这可能促进入侵植物在潮间带栖息地的扩张。在互花米草（Spartina alterniflora）的背景下，土壤pH和盐度被认为是影响真菌群落结构的最重要的营养因子。入侵。总的来说，这项研究阐明了植物入侵与土壤真菌群落之间的联系，并为真菌对生态系统功能的贡献（包括土壤有机底物的分解）带来了潜在的后果。