fungi Raw sequence reads

Here, we present a regional-scale field study spanning in northern China to examine the distribution patterns and driving factors of soil fungal communities using high-throughput sequencing technologies. The studied region is characterized by a decreasing precipitation gradient from the east to the west, and encompasses a wide variety of climatic, edaphic and vegetation conditions. We tested the following hypotheses: (1) plant species richness and community composition are positively related to soil fungal richness and community composition in temperate grasslands in agreement with earlier studies that have demonstrated that plant community structure represents a major environmental filter for fungi (Probe et al., 2015); and (2) after accounting for plant dependencies, climatic predictors, and MAP in particular, would explain a considerable proportion of cross-community variability as has been shown in other regional and global studies.