Effects of Topographic Variation on Soil Fungal Community Structure in a Podocarpus oleifolius D. Don Tree Plantation

Soil fungal communities play a central role in nutrient cycling and ecosystem functioning in tropical montane forests, yet the relative influence of topographic heterogeneity and soil depth on their assembly remains poorly understood. This study evaluated the composition, diversity, and functional structure of soil fungal communities associated with an experimental Podocarpus oleifolius plantation in the Colombian Andes. Using ITS2 rDNA sequencing, fungal assemblages were characterized from soil samples collected around ten trees distributed along a topographic gradient. For each tree, samples were collected at two soil depths (0–10 cm and 10–20 cm), yielding a total of 17 samples after quality control. Topographic variables derived from a digital elevation model were used to evaluate their influence on community structure. A total of 1875 Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) were detected, dominated by Ascomycota. No significant differences in alpha or beta diversity were observed between soil depths. In contrast, slope emerged as the strongest environmental driver of community composition. A high proportion of unassigned OTUs highlighted the presence of poorly characterized fungal diversity. These findings highlight the importance of incorporating fine-scale terrain heterogeneity into restoration strategies with native species and into future studies of soil microbial dynamics in tropical montane ecosystems.