Characteristics of Fungal Communities in Red Mud/Phosphogypsum-Based Artificial Soils

Red mud and phosphogypsum are two typical industrial by-products. The preparation of red mud/phosphogypsum-based artificial soils offers a promising novel solution to the efficient synergistic disposal of them. Fungi, as key drivers, can promote the continuous development and ecological improvement of artificial soils. This study is first to report the characteristics of fungal communities in three artificial soils after one year of incubation. The preliminary formation of fungal communities (with relatively low diversity) resulted in a total of 3 fungal phyla, 81 fungal genera, and 144 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in artificial soils. Ascomycota was the dominant fungal phylum in each artificial soil (>99.5%), and the high-abundance fungal genera included <i>Unclassified_c_Sordariomycetes</i>, <i>Unclassified_o_Sordariales</i>, <i>Emericellopsis</i>, <i>Kernia</i>, <i>Unclassified_f_Nectriaceae</i>, <i>Ramophialophora</i>, <i>Schizothecium</i>, and <i>Iodophanus</i>. There were significant differences among the three artificial soils in the compositions of fungal genera, which affected material cycling, ecological succession, and soil development and maturation to varying extents. According to the FUNGuild prediction of fungal communities, saprotrophic fungi (such as undefined saprotroph, dung saprotroph-undefined saprotroph, and dung saprotroph) played dominant roles in promoting the degradation and humification of organic matter and the cycling of carbon in artificial soils. Fungal communities in the three artificial soils had strong correlations with many environmental factors (such as pH, organic matter, available nitrogen, total nitrogen, available phosphorous, sucrase, urease, acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase, and catalase), indicating significant interactions between them. This is not only conducive to the continuous optimization of the structure of fungal communities in artificial soils but also promotes the balanced and homogeneous distribution of various substances, promoting continuous soil development and maturation and gradual improvement in its ecological functions. This study provides an important scientific basis for clarifying the mechanisms of mycogenesis during the continuous development and maturation of artificial soils.