Response of soil fungal community in winter wheat to warming and fertilization regimes

Understanding soil fungal diversity under global warming is significant for the assessment of climate change impacts on soil health and soil nutrient transformation. The interaction effect of warmer temperatures and fertilization regimes on fungal communities in the soils of winter wheat fields is unclear. Two-year potting experiments were conducted under nighttime warming and different fertilization regimes. The two-year continuous temperature increase significantly decreased the soil’s pH. Warming and fertilization did not significantly change the dominant fungal phyla in the soil. However, it significantly increased the soil fungal richness and diversity compared with no warming and no fertilization. Warming increased richness and diversity by 4.15% and 4.24%, respectively, and fertilization increased richness and diversity by 14.15% and 4.27%, respectively. Furthermore, warming significantly increased the relative abundance of Fusarium , which is the causal agent of winter wheat weat root rot, from 1.75–3.62%. However, fertilization reduced the relative abundance of Fusarium , especially under the combined application of organic and inorganic fertilizers, suggesting that organic manure addition could impair soil fungal pathogens under future warming. The structural equation model demonstrated that the influence of soil temperature on fungal diversity was direct and mediated through soil carbon nitrogen ratios. Soil temperature and soil organic matter directly affected soil fungal diversity and were the most significant parameters influencing fungal diversity.