Zhang Shiqi, Cao Zhenjiao, Liu Siyi, Hao Zhipeng, Zhang Xin, Sun Guoxin, Ge Yuan, Zhang Limei, Chen Baodong
State Key Laboratory of Regional and Urban Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
J Fungi (Basel). 2025 May 19;11(5):389. doi: 10.3390/jof11050389.
Despite substantial research on how environmental factors affect fungal diversity, the mechanisms shaping regional-scale diversity patterns remain poorly understood. This study employed ITS high-throughput sequencing to evaluate soil fungal diversity, community composition, and co-occurrence networks across alpine meadows, desert steppes, and alpine shrublands in the southwestern Tibetan Plateau. We found significantly higher fungal α-diversity in alpine meadows and desert steppes than in alpine shrublands. Random forest and CAP analyses identified the mean annual temperature (MAT) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) as major ecological drivers. Mantel tests revealed that soil physicochemical properties explained more variation than climate, indicating an indirect climatic influence via soil characteristics. Distance-decay relationships suggested that environmental heterogeneity and species interactions drive community isolation. Structural equation modeling confirmed that the MAT and NDVI regulate soil pH and carbon/nitrogen availability, thereby influencing fungal richness. The highly modular fungal co-occurrence network depended on key nodes for connectivity. Vegetation coverage correlated positively with network structure, while soil pH strongly affected network stability. Spatial heterogeneity constrained stability and diversity through resource distribution and niche segregation, whereas stable networks concentrated resources among dominant species. These findings enhance our understanding of fungal assemblage processes at a regional scale, providing a scientific basis for the management of soil fungal resources in plateau ecosystems.
尽管对环境因素如何影响真菌多样性进行了大量研究,但塑造区域尺度多样性模式的机制仍知之甚少。本研究采用ITS高通量测序技术,对青藏高原西南部高寒草甸、荒漠草原和高寒灌丛的土壤真菌多样性、群落组成和共现网络进行了评估。我们发现,高寒草甸和荒漠草原的真菌α多样性显著高于高寒灌丛。随机森林和CAP分析确定年平均温度(MAT)和归一化植被指数(NDVI)为主要生态驱动因素。Mantel检验表明,土壤理化性质比气候解释了更多的变异,表明气候通过土壤特征产生间接影响。距离衰减关系表明,环境异质性和物种相互作用驱动群落隔离。结构方程模型证实,MAT和NDVI调节土壤pH值和碳/氮有效性,从而影响真菌丰富度。高度模块化的真菌共现网络依赖于关键节点进行连接。植被覆盖与网络结构呈正相关,而土壤pH值强烈影响网络稳定性。空间异质性通过资源分布和生态位分化限制了稳定性和多样性,而稳定的网络则将资源集中在优势物种之间。这些发现增进了我们对区域尺度真菌组装过程的理解,为高原生态系统土壤真菌资源的管理提供了科学依据。