Despite having key functions in terrestrial ecosystems, information on the dominant soil fungi and their ecological preferences at the global scale is lacking. To fill this knowledge gap, we surveyed 235 soils from across the globe. Our findings indicate that 83 phylotypes (<0.1% of the retrieved fungi), mostly belonging to wind dispersed, generalist Ascomycota, dominate soils globally. We identify patterns and ecological drivers of dominant soil fungal taxa occurrence, and present a map of their distribution in soils worldwide. Whole-genome comparisons with less dominant, generalist fungi point at a significantly higher number of genes related to stress-tolerance and resource uptake in the dominant fungi, suggesting that they might be better in colonising a wide range of environments. Our findings constitute a major advance in our understanding of the ecology of fungi, and have implications for the development of strategies to preserve them and the ecosystem functions they provide.Winemakers have long used copper as a conventional fungicide treatment on grapevine and only recently, the use of biocontrol agents depicted a promising alternative. Most of the studies that investigate the impact of fungicide treatments, focus on specific pathogenic microbes. In the present work instead, a field experiment conducted in South Africa shows the seasonal microbial change occurring on grapevine leaves, periodically treated with two different fungicide treatments: copper sulphate and Lactobacillus plantarum MW-1. In this work, NGS data were combined with strain-specific and community qPCRs to reveal the shift of the microbial communities throughout the growing season and highlight the impact of fungicides on the microbiota. Only the family of Lactobacillaceae systematically changed between treatments, while the bacterial community remained relatively stable over time. MW-1 was exclusively detected on biocontrol-sprayed leaves. Conversely, the fungal community was largely shaped by sampling time, underlining the succession of different dominant taxa over the months. Between treatments, only a few fungal taxa appeared to change significantly and the fungal load was also comparable. Monitoring the dynamics of the microbial community under different fungicide treatments may advise the best timing to apply treatments to the plants, toward the realization of more sustainable agricultural practices.
", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "2. Zero hunger", "0303 health sciences", "Copper Sulfate", "Agriculture", "Article", "Fungicides", " Industrial", "3. Good health", "Plant Leaves", "South Africa", "03 medical and health sciences", "Vitis", "Seasons", "Lactobacillus plantarum", "Mycobiome"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-56741-z.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-56741-z"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Scientific%20Reports", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1038/s41598-019-56741-z", "name": "item", "description": "10.1038/s41598-019-56741-z", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1038/s41598-019-56741-z"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2020-01-20T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/gcb.15722", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-13T16:19:23Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2021-05-24", "title": "Reindeer control over subarctic treeline alters soil fungal communities with potential consequences for soil carbon storage", "description": "AbstractThe climate\uffe2\uff80\uff90driven encroachment of shrubs into the Arctic is accompanied by shifts in soil fungal communities that could contribute to a net release of carbon from tundra soils. At the same time, arctic grazers are known to prevent the establishment of deciduous shrubs and, under certain conditions, promote the dominance of evergreen shrubs. As these different vegetation types associate with contrasting fungal communities, the belowground consequences of climate change could vary among grazing regimes. Yet, at present, the impact of grazing on soil fungal communities and their links to soil carbon have remained speculative. Here we tested how soil fungal community composition, diversity and function depend on tree vicinity and long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term reindeer grazing regime and assessed how the fungal communities relate to organic soil carbon stocks in an alpine treeline ecotone in Northern Scandinavia. We determined soil carbon stocks and characterized soil fungal communities directly underneath and >3\uffc2\uffa0m away from mountain birches (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii) in two adjacent 55\uffe2\uff80\uff90year\uffe2\uff80\uff90old grazing regimes with or without summer grazing by reindeer (Rangifer tarandus). We show that the area exposed to year\uffe2\uff80\uff90round grazing dominated by evergreen dwarf shrubs had higher soil C:N ratio, higher fungal abundance and lower fungal diversity compared with the area with only winter grazing and higher abundance of mountain birch. Although soil carbon stocks did not differ between the grazing regimes, stocks were positively associated with root\uffe2\uff80\uff90associated ascomycetes, typical to the year\uffe2\uff80\uff90round grazing regime, and negatively associated with free\uffe2\uff80\uff90living saprotrophs, typical to the winter grazing regime. These findings suggest that when grazers promote dominance of evergreen dwarf shrubs, they induce shifts in soil fungal communities that increase soil carbon sequestration in the long term. Thus, to predict climate\uffe2\uff80\uff90driven changes in soil carbon, grazer\uffe2\uff80\uff90induced shifts in vegetation and soil fungal communities need to be accounted for.The climate\uffe2\uff80\uff90driven encroachment of shrubs into the Arctic is accompanied by shifts in soil fungal communities that could contribute to a net release of carbon from tundra soils. At the same time, arctic grazers are known to prevent the establishment of deciduous shrubs and, under certain conditions, promote the dominance of evergreen shrubs. As these different vegetation types associate with contrasting fungal communities, the belowground consequences of climate change could vary among grazing regimes. Yet, at present, the impact of grazing on soil fungal communities and their links to soil carbon have remained speculative. Here we tested how soil fungal community composition, diversity and function depend on tree vicinity and long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term reindeer grazing regime and assessed how the fungal communities relate to organic soil carbon stocks in an alpine treeline ecotone in Northern Scandinavia. We determined soil carbon stocks and characterized soil fungal communities directly underneath and >3\uffc2\uffa0m away from mountain birches (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii) in two adjacent 55\uffe2\uff80\uff90year\uffe2\uff80\uff90old grazing regimes with or without summer grazing by reindeer (Rangifer tarandus). We show that the area exposed to year\uffe2\uff80\uff90round grazing dominated by evergreen dwarf shrubs had higher soil C:N ratio, higher fungal abundance and lower fungal diversity compared with the area with only winter grazing and higher abundance of mountain birch. Although soil carbon stocks did not differ between the grazing regimes, stocks were positively associated with root\uffe2\uff80\uff90associated ascomycetes, typical to the year\uffe2\uff80\uff90round grazing regime, and negatively associated with free\uffe2\uff80\uff90living saprotrophs, typical to the winter grazing regime. These findings suggest that when grazers promote dominance of evergreen dwarf shrubs, they induce shifts in soil fungal communities that increase soil carbon sequestration in the long term. Thus, to predict climate\uffe2\uff80\uff90driven changes in soil carbon, grazer\uffe2\uff80\uff90induced shifts in vegetation and soil fungal communities need to be accounted for.Despite having key functions in terrestrial ecosystems, information on the dominant soil fungi and their ecological preferences at the global scale is lacking. To fill this knowledge gap, we surveyed 235 soils from across the globe. Our findings indicate that 83 phylotypes (<0.1% of the retrieved fungi), mostly belonging to wind dispersed, generalist Ascomycota, dominate soils globally. We identify patterns and ecological drivers of dominant soil fungal taxa occurrence, and present a map of their distribution in soils worldwide. Whole-genome comparisons with less dominant, generalist fungi point at a significantly higher number of genes related to stress-tolerance and resource uptake in the dominant fungi, suggesting that they might be better in colonising a wide range of environments. Our findings constitute a major advance in our understanding of the ecology of fungi, and have implications for the development of strategies to preserve them and the ecosystem functions they provide.The climate\uffe2\uff80\uff90driven encroachment of shrubs into the Arctic is accompanied by shifts in soil fungal communities that could contribute to a net release of carbon from tundra soils. At the same time, arctic grazers are known to prevent the establishment of deciduous shrubs and, under certain conditions, promote the dominance of evergreen shrubs. As these different vegetation types associate with contrasting fungal communities, the belowground consequences of climate change could vary among grazing regimes. Yet, at present, the impact of grazing on soil fungal communities and their links to soil carbon have remained speculative. Here we tested how soil fungal community composition, diversity and function depend on tree vicinity and long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term reindeer grazing regime and assessed how the fungal communities relate to organic soil carbon stocks in an alpine treeline ecotone in Northern Scandinavia. We determined soil carbon stocks and characterized soil fungal communities directly underneath and >3\uffc2\uffa0m away from mountain birches (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii) in two adjacent 55\uffe2\uff80\uff90year\uffe2\uff80\uff90old grazing regimes with or without summer grazing by reindeer (Rangifer tarandus). We show that the area exposed to year\uffe2\uff80\uff90round grazing dominated by evergreen dwarf shrubs had higher soil C:N ratio, higher fungal abundance and lower fungal diversity compared with the area with only winter grazing and higher abundance of mountain birch. Although soil carbon stocks did not differ between the grazing regimes, stocks were positively associated with root\uffe2\uff80\uff90associated ascomycetes, typical to the year\uffe2\uff80\uff90round grazing regime, and negatively associated with free\uffe2\uff80\uff90living saprotrophs, typical to the winter grazing regime. These findings suggest that when grazers promote dominance of evergreen dwarf shrubs, they induce shifts in soil fungal communities that increase soil carbon sequestration in the long term. Thus, to predict climate\uffe2\uff80\uff90driven changes in soil carbon, grazer\uffe2\uff80\uff90induced shifts in vegetation and soil fungal communities need to be accounted for.Microplastics affect soil functions depending on drought conditions. However, how their combined effect influences soil fungi and their linkages with ecosystem functions is still unknown. To address this, we used rhizosphere soil from a previous experiment in which we employed microplastic fibres addition and drought in a factorial design, and evaluated their effects on soil fungal communities. Microplastics decreased soil fungal richness under well\uffe2\uff80\uff90watered conditions, likely linked to microplastics leaching toxic substances into the soil, and microplastic effects on root fineness. Under drought, by contrast, microplastics increased pathogen and total fungal richness, likely related to microplastic positive effects on soil properties, such as water holding capacity, porosity or aggregation. Soil fungal richness was the attribute most affected by microplastics and drought. Microplastics altered the relationships between soil fungi and ecosystem functions to the point that many of them flipped from positive to negative or disappeared. The combined effect of microplastics and drought on fungal richness mitigated their individual negative effect (antagonism), suggesting that changes in soil water conditions may alter the action mode of microplastics in soil. Microplastic leaching of harmful substances can be mitigated under drought, while the improvement of soil properties by microplastics may alleviate such drought conditions.