Soil fungal biogeography across forests from eastern Asia and eastern North America ITS

Forests of eastern Asia (EA) have significantly greater plant species richness and phylogenetic diversity than those of eastern North America (ENA); evidence suggests that EA is also the primary place of origin of floristic interchanges between EA and ENA. Nonetheless, biogeographic patterns of the soil mycobiome remain unknown in these ancient disjunct forests. Here, 800 soil samples were collected adjacent to individual trees, representing 109 woody plant species located in eleven disjunct forests of EA and ENA (5 in EA and 6 in ENA). Both ITS and 18S rRNA gene regions were sequenced to profile soil fungal communities.