Soil Fungal Community and Potential Function in Different Forest Ecosystems

Abstract

Forests acting as carbon storage and sequestration play an essential role in the global nutrient cycle, in which fungi are active participants. The forests cover almost all regions from the boreal, temperate to the subtropical and tropical forests. The relative proportion of carbon sequestrated in forest soil varies from approximately 85% of the terrestrial carbon pool in boreal forests to 60% in temperate forests and to 50% in tropical rainforests. Fungi as decomposers of organic matter and root-associated mediators of belowground carbon transport and respiration are the key drivers of the carbon cycle in forests. For example, saprophytic fungi can degrade soil organic matter to release carbon into the soil, whereas symbiotic fungi could form symbiosis with plants, through which plant and fungi can benefit each other with nutrient flow. Given the importance of fungi in the ecological environment, this paper summarizes the importance of soil fungi in terms of fungal diversity and function in forest ecosystems.