Divergent effects of environmental factors and the key role of soil organic carbon jointly shape fungal community composition and maintain functional stability in eastern China

Abstract

Fungi are key in forests, yet multi-scale community patterns under environmental filtering remain unclear. Soil samples were collected across the eastern monsoon region of China (continental), divided into four climatic zones (regional), to identify drivers shaping fungal communities and functional groups across scales. Climatic factors, topography, soil physicochemical properties, and vegetation variables were selected as environmental factors. Our results demonstrated that soil fungal community composition and functional group structure exhibited scale dependence. However, soil carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus were key stabilizing factors for community composition, with soil organic carbon driving fungal community and functional structure at the continental scale. Climatic factors acted as top-down regulators that affect functional group structure directly or indirectly. Dominant phyla and functional groups exhibited taxon- and guild-dependent responses, with their variation to environmental factors differing considerably among the regional scales. At the continental scale, the preferential responses of dominant phyla and functional groups to environmental factors drive directional changes in overall community composition and functional structure. Overall, scale dependence and substrate supply shape fungal community composition and functional group structure in the eastern monsoon region, while the differential responses of taxa/guilds to environmental factors maintain their overall stability.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

spatial distribution / scale dependence / environmental filtering / taxon-dependent response / guild-dependent response

Highlight

	● Soil nutrients regulate fungal community composition, while climatic factors shape functional group structure.
	● Soil organic carbon serves as a dominant driver of fungal community composition and functional group structure at the continental scale.
	● Taxon- and guild-dependent responses of dominant phyla and functional groups maintain overall community stability.

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