Impact of silvicultural management on soil fungal diversity and community composition in a mature Pinus pinaster reforestation

Soil fungal communities play a key role in multiple functions and ecosystem services within forest ecosystems. Nowadays, forest ecosystems are subject to multiple environmental and anthropogenic disturbances (e.g., fire or forest management) that mainly lead to changes in vegetation as well as in plant- soil interactions. In this work, we analysed the response of edaphic fungi to forest management in a mature Pinus pinaster reforestation in Guadalajara, Spain. We started from an experimental setting device where thinning and gap cutting treatments were applied at different intensities and sizes, respectively. The soil fungal communities were evaluated and described during the first weeks of June 2023 in spring, 5 years after silvicultural treatments.and the effect of the silvicultural treatments was evaluated 5 years after their application; as well as also the possible relationships between fungal communities and other environmental factors were studied.