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Updated: Sep 24, 2025
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Isolation of Culturable Yeasts and Molds from Soils to Investigate Fungal Population Structure
Published on: May 27, 2022
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Phylotype diversity within soil fungal functional groups drives ecosystem stability
Shengen Liu1,2,3, Pablo García-Palacios4, Leho Tedersoo5,6
1Engineering Research Center of Eco-Environment in Three Gorges Reservoir Region of Ministry of Education, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, China.
Nature Ecology & Evolution
|May 9, 2022
Summary
Soil fungal diversity stabilizes ecosystems and plant productivity. Richness of decomposer fungi enhances stability and buffers against drought, while pathogen fungi richness decreases resilience.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Mycology
- Environmental Science
Background:
- Soil fungi are crucial for plant productivity.
- Their role in ecosystem temporal stability and buffering against extreme drought is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the link between soil fungal diversity and ecosystem stability.
- To determine the capacity of soil fungi to buffer plant productivity against extreme drought events.
Main Methods:
- Combined three global field surveys of soil fungi.
- Utilized satellite-derived temporal assessment of plant productivity.
- Analyzed phylotype richness within specific fungal functional groups.
Main Results:
- Fungal decomposer richness positively correlated with ecosystem stability globally.
- Fungal plant pathogen richness showed a negative association with ecosystem stability, especially in grasslands.
- Decomposer fungal richness enhanced plant productivity resistance to drought, while pathogen richness reduced it.
Conclusions:
- Soil fungal diversity, particularly decomposers, is critical for stable plant production over time.
- Fungal diversity plays a key role in buffering global ecosystems against extreme climate events like drought.
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