Functional diversity of fungal communities depends on soil chemical-biological variability across mixed forest plantations

In this work, a study site located in Central Italy and characterized by a mixed plantation established on a former agricultural area was selected in order to evaluate the impact of a specific forest management on marginal soils. These intercropping systems involve two economically important species, Populus alba and Juglans regia, as well three different nurse trees, Alnus cordata, Elaeagnus umbellata (both N-fixing species), and Corylus avellana. An adjacent agricultural field was also included in this study for comparison. Topsoils (0-10 cm of depth) were sampled and several chemical (i.e., organic carbon, total nitrogen, lignin, cellulose, and bioavailable phosphorus contents) and biological (i.e., fluorescein diacetate hydrolase enzyme activity) parameters determined. Fungal communities were identified by means of metabarcoding analysis.