Data and code for: Functional traits underpin mycorrhizal fungal resilience and recovery following fire

1. Quantifying fire effects on below-ground communities is essential for understanding post-fire ecosystem recovery. Mycorrhizal fungi regulate vegetation dynamics and soil processes, yet their post-fire resilience remains poorly understood across diverse landscapes, as current knowledge relies heavily on single-system studies. To address this gap, we aimed to determine if fire acts as an ecological filter that selects for specific functional traits across systems, rather than simply reducing diversity.2. We assessed ecto- and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal responses two to five years post-fire across 14 contrasting Australian forest, woodland and shrubland ecosystems using paired burnt and unburnt plots. Using high-throughput sequencing, diversity metrics, and joint species distribution modelling, we quantified fire effects on community composition and mycorrhizal traits.3. While fungal richness unexpectedly increased post-fire, community structure shifted significantly based on survival strategies. Fire favoured stress-tolerant Ascomycota, a short-distance (coarse) ectomycorrhizal exploration type, and edaphophilic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Notably, taxa with below-ground fruiting bodies showed significantly greater resilience than those producing above-ground sporocarps. Furthermore, ecosystems with longer fire intervals supported higher fungal occurrence.4. These findings demonstrate that fire reorganizes fungal communities toward specific recovery strategies, providing a critical trait-based framework for incorporating below-ground symbionts into fire management.