RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article T1 Soil fungal communities under Pinus patula Schiede ex Schltdl. & Cham. Plantation forests of different ages in Ethiopia A1 Alem, Demelash A1 Dejene, Tatek A1 Oria de Rueda Salgueiro, Juan Andrés A1 Geml, József A1 Martín Pinto, Pablo K1 Plantación K1 Forestal K1 Ectomycorrhizal fungi K1 Pinus patula K1 Metabarcoding K1 Hongos ectomicorrízicos K1 Pinus pátula K1 Metacodificación de barras K1 3106 Ciencia Forestal AB The cultivation of plantation forests is likely to change the diversity and composition of soil fungal communities. At present, there is scant information about these communities in Ethiopian plantation forest systems. We assessed the soil fungal communities in Pinus patula Schiede ex Schltdl. & Cham. stands aged 5, 11, or 36-years-old using DNA metabarcoding of ITS2 amplicons. The ecological conditions of each plot, such as climate, altitude, and soil, were similar. Stand age and soil fertility influenced soil fungal species diversity and ecological guilds. In total, 2262 fungal operational taxonomic units were identified, of which 2% were ectomycorrhizal (ECM). The diversity of ECM fungi was higher in the 5 and 36-year-old stands than in the 11-year-old P. patula stands. Contrary to our expectations, a high level of ECM species diversity was observed in young stands, suggesting that these ECM species could compensate for the effects of nutrient stress in these stands. Our results also suggested that the abundance of plant pathogens and saprotrophs was not affected by stand age. This study provides baseline information about fungal community changes across tree stands of different ages in P. patula plantations in Ethiopia that are likely related to ECM fungi in young stands where relatively low soil fertility prevails. However, given that the plots were established in a single stand for each age class for each treatment, this study should be considered as a case study and, therefore, caution should be exercised when applying the conclusions to other stands. PB MDPI YR 2020 FD 2020 LK https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/58720 UL https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/58720 LA eng NO Forests, 2020, vol.11, n.10, 1109 NO Producción Científica DS UVaDOC RD 07-ago-2024