Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are ubiquitous mutualists of terrestrial plants and play key roles in regulating various ecosystem processes, but little is known about AMF biogeography at regional scale. This study aims at exploring the key predictors of AMF communities across a 5000-km transect in northern China. We determined the soil AMF species richness and community composition at 47 sites representative of four vegetation types (meadow steppe, typical steppe, desert steppe and desert) and related them to plant community characteristics, abiotic factors and geographic distance. The results showed that soil pH was the strongest predictor of AMF richness and phylogenetic diversity. However, abiotic factors only have a low predictive effect on AMF community composition or phylogenetic patterns. By contrast, we found a significant relationship between community composition of AMF and plants, which was a surprising result given the extent of heterogeneity in the plant community across this transect. Moreover, the geographic distance predominantly explained the AMF phylogenetic structure, implying that history evolutionary may play a role in shaping AMF biogeographic patterns. This study highlighted the different roles of main factors in predicting AMF biogeography, and bridge landscape-scale studies to more recent global-scale efforts.

Berlin Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research

CAS Key Laboratory of Environmental Biotechnology Research Center for Eco Environmental Sciences Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China

Collage of Resources and Environment University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China

College of Resources and Environment Qingdao Agricultural University Qingdao China

Department of Mycorrhizal Symbioses Institute of Botany Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Průhonice Czech Republic

Freie Universität Berlin Institut für Biologie Dahlem Center of Plant Sciences Plant Ecology Berlin Germany

Key laboratory of Agro ecological Processes in Subtropical Region Institute of Subtropical Agriculture Chinese Academy of Sciences Changsha China

State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology Research Center for Eco Environmental Sciences Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China

State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change Institute of Botany Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China

Citace poskytuje Crossref.org

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