The ectomycorrhizal fungal communities associated with Quercus liaotungensis in different habitats across northern China.

Quercus liaotungensis is a major tree species in deciduous broad-leaved forests in northern China. In this study, we investigated ectomycorrhizal (ECM) communities associated with Q. liaotungensis from five typical habitats across northern China. We used internal transcribed spacer-polymerase chain reaction and DNA sequencing to identify ECM fungi, and we detected 220 operational taxonomic units. In general, at the regional scale, the dominant ECM lineages were /tomentella-thelephora, /cenococcum, /russula-lactarius, and /inocybe. Analysis of variance demonstrated significant differences in alpha diversity among these ECM communities, and the ECM fungal richness was positively correlated with elevation and soil organic matter. Analysis of similarity and a nonmetric multidimensional scaling analysis revealed that there were significant differences in community composition, and the geographical distance was correlated with the ECM fungal communities. Among the environmental factors we studied, soil parameters and climate factors were the primary direct driving factors of the ECM fungal communities. Our study primarily advances our understanding of environmental factors affecting ECM fungal communities at regional scale.