Community Characteristics of Soil Ectomycorrhizal Fungi under Different Forests in the Sandy Areas of Northeastern China

Ectomycorrhizal fungal community composition and changes are crucial for evaluating ecological restoration. This study was conducted to reveal significant differences in the community structure and composition of soil ectomycorrhizal fungi in different tree afforestation species in the Three-North Shelter Forest Program area of Liaoning. In this experiment, high-throughput sequencing was used to investigate the correlation between soil ectomycorrhizal fungal community characteristics and silvicultural species, including Populus × canadensis , Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica , and Pinus tabuliformis , the main silvicultural species in the Three-North Shelter Forest Program in western Liaoning, China. Among them, Populus × canadensis had the highest soil pH, DOC, available N, and available P, while having the lowest C/N ratio and total C, according to the results. Ascomycota, Mortierellomycota, and Basidiomycota were the three most prevalent phyla in the soil ectomycorrhizal fungal communities between plantations, which also showed significant differences. The diversity of the soil ectomycorrhizal fungal communities was significantly impacted by the physicochemical characteristics of the soil in the various plantations. Under the same climatic conditions, the soil characteristics of different tree species after afforestation showed significant differences, especially between coniferous and broad-leaved species. The significant differences in the composition and structure of soil ectomycorrhizal fungal communities after afforestation greatly illustrate the correlation between soil microbial community characteristics and tree species.