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Research article2014Peer reviewedOpen access

Global diversity and geography of soil fungi

Tedersoo, Leho; Bahram, Mohammad; Põlme, Sergei; Kõljalg, Urmas; Yorou, Nourou S; Wiljesundera, Ravi; Villarreal Ruiz, Luis; Vasco-Palacios, Aida M; Thu, Pham Quang; Suija, Ave; Smith, Matthew E.; Sharp, Cathy; Saluveer, Erki; Saitta, Alessandro; Rosas, Miguel; Riit, Taavi; Ratkowsky, David; Pritsch, Karin; Põldmaa, Kadri; Piepenbring, Mieke;
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Abstract

Fungi play major roles in ecosystem processes, but the determinants of fungal diversity and biogeographic patterns remain poorly understood. Using DNA metabarcoding data from hundreds of globally distributed soil samples, we demonstrate that fungal richness is decoupled from plant diversity. The plant-to-fungus richness ratio declines exponentially toward the poles. Climatic factors, followed by edaphic and spatial variables, constitute the best predictors of fungal richness and community composition at the global scale. Fungi show similar latitudinal diversity gradients to other organisms, with several notable exceptions. These findings advance our understanding of global fungal diversity patterns and permit integration of fungi into a general macroecological framework.

Published in

Science
2014, Volume: 346, number: 6213, article number: 1256688

      Sustainable Development Goals

      SDG13 Climate action

      UKÄ Subject classification

      Forest Science

      Publication identifier

      DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1256688

      Permanent link to this page (URI)

      https://res.slu.se/id/publ/63355