Response of Fungal Communities to Anthropogenic Disturbances in a Tropical Forest

ABSTRACT Conversion of forests to agricultural land leads to a decline in soil biodiversity and it affects the ecosystem services that they provide. The rising population around Mt. Kenya forest and an increase in demand for land and forest resources has led to deforestation. However, the impact on fungal communities remains unknown. High‐throughput sequencing was used to assess fungal diversity in the protected part of the Mt. Kenya forest, which is predominantly woodland, and in unprotected areas dominated by shrubland. The most significantly ( p < 0.05) abundant fungal genera in the woodland were Mortierella (23.3%) and Metarhizium (5.4%). Fusarium (8.5%) and Aspergillus (3.5%) were significantly higher in the shrubland. An evaluation of the primary lifestyle showed a significantly ( p < 0.05) higher number of animal parasites (16.3%) and soil saprotrophs (46.2%) in the woodland. Conversely, shrubland had a higher abundance of plant pathogens (20%). Beta diversity analysis showed a clear separation of fungal communities in the woodland and shrubland. Redundancy analysis showed a positive correlation of Mortierella with Mn and C. Metarhizium and Aspergillus were negatively correlated with clay and C, respectively. These results provide important information for the conservation of fungal communities in the Mt. Kenya forest and it will also inform management decisions aimed at improving soil health.