Mycobiota of Podzol Turbic under Reindeer Pastures in Tundra of the Yamal Peninsula

The diversity and structure of fungal communities in the Entic Podzol (Turbic) under variously disturbed reindeer pastures on the Yamal Peninsula were examined by the cultural method and DNA metabarcoding. We isolated 29 species from 16 genera of fungi assigned to the phyla Ascomycota and Mucoromycota by plating method and 434 OTUs of seven phyla (Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Glomeromycota, Mortierellomycota, Mucoromycota, Olpidiomycota, and Rozellomycota) by DNA metabarcoding (251 OTUs were identified at the species level). In total, 276 species from 214 genera were discovered in this soil. Only four species were found by both methods, and this again indicated the need to use fundamentally different approaches to assess fungal diversity. The OTUs of fungi were classified by the FungalTraits database into 15 ecological-trophic groups. Microbiota of the Entic Podzol (Turbic) under pastures was dominated by soil and litter saprotrophs and by ectomycorrhizal and lichenized species, which were followed by plant and animal pathogens and then by xylotrophic saprotrophs and lichen pathogens, and coprophilous fungi comprised a smaller proportion. Both methods demonstrated that as pastures degraded, species diversity in the soil decreased, the taxonomic and trophic structure of the fungal biota significantly changed, and a smaller number of species dominated. This was especially pronounced, when the soils under slightly and strongly disturbed pastures were compared. The significance of these changes was confirmed by statistical analysis of the data. Changes of trophic and taxonomic groups of fungi in the Podzol Turbic during the degradation of reindeer pastures are discussed.