Sustainable Forest Management Research Institute, University of Valladolid, Avda. Madrid 44, 34071, Palencia, Spain.
Ethiopian Environment and Forest Research Institute (EEFRI), P. O. Box 30708, 1000, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Sci Rep. 2022 Mar 21;12(1):4817. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-08828-3.
Most of the Dry Afromontane forests in the northern part of Ethiopia are located around church territories and, hence, are called church forests. These forests are biodiversity islands and provide key ecosystem services to local communities. A previous study of church forest fungal species was based on sporocarp collections. However, to obtain a complete picture of the fungal community, the total fungal community present in the soil needs to be analyzed. This information is important to integrate church forests into global biodiversity conservation strategies and to understand what actions are required to conserve church forests and their biological components, including fungi, which are known for their exceptionally high diversity levels. We assessed soil fungal communities in three church forests using ITS2 rDNA metabarcoding. In total, 5152 fungal operational taxonomic units representing 16 fungal phyla were identified. Saprotrophs followed by ectomycorrhizal fungi and animal pathogens dominated fungal communities. Significant differences in diversity and richness were observed between forests. Non-metric multidimensional scaling confirmed that fungal community composition differed in each forest. The composition was influenced by climatic, edaphic, vegetation, and spatial variables. Linear relationships were found between tree basal area and the abundance of total fungi and trophic groups. Forest management strategies that consider cover, tree density, enrichment plantations of indigenous host tree species, and environmental factors would offer suitable habitats for fungal diversity, production, and function in these forest systems. The application of the baseline information obtained in this study could assist other countries with similar forest conservation issues due to deforestation and forest fragmentation.
埃塞俄比亚北部的大部分旱地阿非利加山地森林都位于教堂领地周围，因此被称为教堂森林。这些森林是生物多样性的岛屿，为当地社区提供关键的生态系统服务。之前对教堂森林真菌物种的研究是基于子实体采集。然而，为了全面了解真菌群落，需要分析土壤中存在的全部真菌群落。这些信息对于将教堂森林纳入全球生物多样性保护战略以及了解需要采取哪些行动来保护教堂森林及其生物组成部分（包括真菌）非常重要，真菌以其极高的多样性水平而闻名。我们使用 ITS2 rDNA 宏条形码评估了三个教堂森林的土壤真菌群落。总共鉴定出 5152 个代表 16 个真菌门的真菌操作分类单元。腐生物随后是外生菌根真菌和动物病原体主导着真菌群落。森林之间的多样性和丰富度存在显著差异。非度量多维尺度分析证实，每个森林的真菌群落组成不同。组成受气候、土壤、植被和空间变量的影响。发现树木基面积与总真菌和营养类群的丰度之间存在线性关系。考虑覆盖、树木密度、本地宿主树种的丰植造林和环境因素的森林管理策略将为这些森林系统中的真菌多样性、生产力和功能提供适宜的栖息地。由于森林砍伐和森林破碎化，在其他面临类似森林保护问题的国家，可以应用本研究获得的基线信息。
