Composition and Diversity of Soil Fungi in Dipterocarpaceae-Dominated Seasonal Tropical Forests in Thailand

Although fungi play essential roles in nutrient cycles and plant growth in forest ecosystems, limited information is currently available on the community compositions of soil fungi in tropical forests. Few studies have examined fungal community structures in seasonal tropical forests, in which forest fires potentially have a large impact on above- and belowground community processes. Based on high-throughput sequencing technologies, we herein examined the diversity and community structures of soil fungi in dry seasonal tropical forests in Sakaerat, northeast Thailand. We found that fungal community compositions diverged among dry evergreen, dry deciduous, and fire-protected dry deciduous forests within the region. Although tree species diversity did not positively correlate with soil fungal diversity, the coverage of an understory bamboo species (Vietnamosasa pusilla) showed a strong relationship with fungal community structures. Our community ecological analysis also yielded a list of fungi showing habitat preferences for either of the neighboring evergreen and deciduous forests in Sakaerat. The present results provide a basis for managing soil fungal communities and aboveground plant communities in seasonal tropical forests in Southeast Asia.