Vertical distribution of fungi in hollows and hummocks of boreal peatlands. fungi metabarcoding

Hollow and hummock of Boreal peatlands differ in water table position, pH, plant community composition and biochemical properties that might affect the structure of their fungal communities. The community composition of fungi in three different depths (0-5 cm, 15-20 cm, 30-35cm) of hollow and hummock of a nutrient-poor fen in northern Ontario were assessed by Illumina sequencing of D1 variable region of large subunit of rDNA. Our metabarcoding results revealed statistically distinct fungal community composition between hollow and hummock. Hollow contained more diverse fungal community than hummock in general. However, within each microscale, middle horizon of hollow and bottom horizon of hummock were comparable in terms of fungal biodiversity. These peat layers were identified as an optimum area bearing the most diverse and heterogeneous community composition of fungi. This study is the first to characterize the optimum zone of high fungal diversity in hollow and hummock of Boreal peatlands.