Vertical distribution of fungi in hollows and hummocks of boreal peatlands

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.

北方泥炭地（Boreal peatlands）的洼地与丘岗在地下水位、pH值、植物群落组成及生化特性方面存在差异，而这些环境因子可能会影响其真菌群落的结构。本研究针对安大略省北部一处贫营养泥炭沼的洼地与丘岗，分别采集0-5 cm、15-20 cm、30-35 cm三个深度的样品，通过核糖体DNA（rDNA）大亚基D1可变区的Illumina高通量测序技术，对其真菌群落组成进行了分析。元条形码测序（metabarcoding）结果显示，洼地与丘岗的真菌群落组成在统计学上存在显著差异。总体而言，洼地的真菌群落多样性整体高于丘岗。然而在各自的微尺度生境中，洼地的中层土层与丘岗的底层土层，其真菌生物多样性水平并无显著差异。这两类泥炭土层被确定为真菌群落多样性最高、组成异质性最强的最优生境区域。本研究首次系统阐明了北方泥炭地洼地与丘岗中高真菌多样性的最优分布区域。