Global diversity and geography of soil fungi.

LEHO TEDERSOO; MOHAMMAD BAHRAM; SERGEI PÕLME; URMAS KÕLJALG; NOUROU YOROU; RAVI WIJESUNDERA; LUIS VILLARREAL RUIZ; AÍDA VASCO-PALACIOS; PHAM QUANG THU; AVE SUIJA; MATTHEW E. SMITH; CATHY SHARP; ERKI SALUVEER; ALESSANDRO SAITTA; MIGUEL ROSAS; TAAVI RIIT; DAVID RATKOWSKY; KARIN PRITSCH; KADRI PÕLDMAA; MEIKE PIEPENBRING; CHERDCHAI PHOSRI; MARKO PETERSON; KAARIN PARTS; KADRI PÄRTEL; EVELI OTSING; EDUARDO NOUHRA; ANDRÉ L. NJOUONKOU; R. HENRIK NILSSON; LUIS N. MORGADO; JORDAN MAYOR; TOM W. MAY; LUIZA MAJUAKIM; D. JEAN LODGE; SU SEE LEE; KARL-HENRIK LARSSON; PETR KOHOUT; KENTARO HOSAKA; INDREK HIIESALU; TERRY W. HENKEL; HELERY HAREND; LIANG-DONG GUO; ALINA GRESLEBIN; GWEN GRELET; JOZSEF GEML; GENEVIEVE GATES; WILLIAM DUNSTAN; CHRIS DUNK; REIN DRENKHAN; JOHN DEARNALEY; ANDRÉ DE KESEL; TAN DANG; XIN CHEN; FRANZ BUEGGER; FRANCIS Q. BREARLEY; GREGORY BONITO; STEN ANSLAN; SANDRA ABELL; KESSY ABARENKOV

SCIENCE

AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE

Año: 2014 vol. 643 p. 1078 - 1089

0036-8075

Fungi play major roles in ecosystem processes, but the determinants of fungal diversity and biogeographic patterns remain poorly understood. Using DNA metabarcoding data from hundreds of globally distributed soil samples, we demonstrate that fungal richness is decoupled from plant diversity. The plant-to-fungus richness ratio declines exponentially toward the poles. Climatic factors, followed by edaphic and spatial variables, constitute the best predictors of fungal richness and community composition at the global scale. Fungi show similar latitudinal diversity gradients to other organisms, with several notable exceptions. These findings advance our understanding of global fungal diversity patterns and permit integration of fungi into a general macroecological framework.