Fungi are key components of belowground ecosystems with various ecological roles in forests. Although the changes in the richness and composition of belowground fungi across altitudinal gradients have been widely reported, only a few studies have focused on the microhabitat types along altitudinal gradients. Here, we analysed the effect of altitude on the ectomycorrhizal and non-ectomycorrhizal fungal communities in belowground microhabitats. We collected root and soil samples from 16 Pinus densiflora forests at various altitudes across Korea, and measured the soil properties as potential factors. Fungal communities were analysed by high-throughput sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) region. We found that altitude negatively affected the species richness of root-inhabiting fungi but did not influence that of soil-inhabiting fungi. In addition, the composition of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi was less influenced by altitude than non-ECM fungi. Most of the soil properties did not show a significant relationship with altitude, but the effect of soil properties was different across microhabitat types and ecological roles of fungi. Our results reveal that microhabitat types and altitudinal gradients differently affect the richness and composition of fungal communities associated with P. densiflora, providing a better understanding of plant-associated fungal communities.

中文翻译：

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与微生境和公会类型相关的沿海拔梯度的地下真菌多样性的不同模式

真菌是地下生态系统的关键组成部分，在森林中具有各种生态作用。尽管已广泛报道了地下真菌在海拔梯度上的丰富度和组成的变化，但只有少数研究关注沿海拔梯度的微生境类型。在这里，我们分析了海拔对地下微生境中外生菌根和非外生菌根真菌群落的影响。我们从 16 株红松中采集了根和土壤样本韩国各地不同高度的森林，并测量了土壤特性作为潜在因素。通过内部转录间隔区 2 (ITS2) 区域的高通量测序分析真菌群落。我们发现海拔高度对根栖真菌的物种丰富度产生负面影响，但不影响土壤栖息真菌的物种丰富度。此外，与非 ECM 真菌相比，外生菌根 (ECM) 真菌的组成受海拔影响较小。大多数土壤性质与海拔没有显着关系，但土壤性质的影响因微生境类型和真菌的生态作用而异。我们的研究结果表明，微生境类型和海拔梯度不同地影响与P. densiflora相关的真菌群落的丰富度和组成，更好地了解与植物相关的真菌群落。