Effects of tree species richness on the taxa, diversity and community composition of saprotrophic fungi in freshly-fallen leaves in a subtropical forest of south-east China. Tree species richness and fungi inhabiting mixed leaf litters

To test tree diversity effects on saprotrophic fungal community in litter and subsequent ecosystem functioning, we conducted an experiment based on the only one subtropical forest diversity experiment (BEF-China) within the TreeDivNet global network (http://www.treedivnet.ugent.be/). In this study, we sampled mixed leaf litters at the plot level along the gradient of tree diversity including one-, two-, four-, eight-, and sixteen-tree species richness. Saprotrophic fungal community in these mixed litters were estimated using the Illumina MiSeq sequencing platform. We found plot-wide tree richness did not change the diversity of saprotrophic fungi in litter, but showed a mid-domain effect on the taxonomic group of phylum Ascomycota.