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Niche differentiation among species is a key mechanism by which biodiversity may be linked to ecosystem function. We tested a set of widely invoked hypotheses about the extent of niche differentiation in one of the most diverse communities on Earth, decomposer microorganisms, by measuring their response to changes in three abundant litter resources: lignin, cellulose, and nitrogen (N). To do this, we used the model system Arabidopsis thaliana to manipulate lignin, cellulose, and N availability and then used high-throughput sequencing to measure the response of microbial communities during decay. Resequencing the decomposer communities after incubation of decomposed litter with pure substrates showed that groups of species had unique substrate use profiles, such that species organized into functional \"guilds\" of decomposers that were associated with individual litter chemicals. Low concentrations of lignin, cellulose, or N in the litter caused unique shifts in decomposer community composition after 1 yr of decay. Low cellulose plants had low levels of fungi in all decomposer guilds, low lignin plants had high levels of fungi in all decomposer guilds, and low N plants had low levels of fungi in decomposer guilds associated with sucrose and lignin. The relative abundance of decomposer guilds correlated with the total loss of individual litter chemicals during litter decay in the field. In addition, N fertilization shifted decomposer communities during both the early and later stages of decay to those dominated by decomposers in the cellulose guild. Our results contrast the assumption that major carbon (C) and N degradation mechanisms are uniform across whole decomposer communities and instead suggest that decomposition arises from complementarity among groups of metabolically distinct taxa.

In the processes controlling ecosystem fertility, fungi are increasingly acknowledged as key drivers. However, our understanding of the rules behind fungal community assembly regarding the effect of soil fertility level remains limited. Using soil samples from typical tea plantations spanning c. 2167 km north-east to south-west across China, we investigated the assemblage complexity and assembly processes of 140 fungal communities along a soil fertility gradient. The community dissimilarities of total fungi and fungal functional guilds increased with increasing soil fertility index dissimilarity. The symbiotrophs were more sensitive to variations in soil fertility compared with pathotrophs and saprotrophs. Fungal networks were larger and showed higher connectivity as well as greater potential for inter-module connection in more fertile soils. Environmental factors had a slightly greater influence on fungal community composition than spatial factors. Species abundance fitted the Zipf-Mandelbrot distribution (niche-based mechanisms), which provided evidence for deterministic-based processes. Overall, the soil fungal communities in tea plantations responded in a deterministic manner to soil fertility, with high fertility correlated with complex fungal community assemblages. This study provides new insights that might contribute to predictions of fungal community complexity.

Bromeliads represent a major component of neotropical forests and encompass a considerable diversity of life forms and nutritional modes. Bromeliads explore highly stressful habitats and root-associated fungi may play a crucial role but their driving factors and variations in root-associated fungi remain largely unknown. ⦁We explored root-associated fungal communities in 17 bromeliad species and their variations linked to host identity, life forms, and nutritional modes by using ITS1 gene-based high-throughput sequencing and by characterising fungal functional guilds. ⦁We found a dual association of mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal fungi. The different species, life forms, and nutritional modes among bromeliad hosts had fungal communities that differ in their taxonomical and functional composition. Specifically, roots of epiphytic bromeliads had more endophytic fungi and dark septate endophytes and fewer mycorrhizal fungi than terrestrials and lithophytes. ⦁Our results contribute to a fundamental knowledge base on different fungal groups in previously undescribed Bromeliaceae. The diverse root-associated fungal communities in bromeliads may enhance plant fitness in both stressful and nutrient-poor environments and may give more flexibility to the plants to adapt to changing environmental conditions.

• The aboveground impacts of climate change receive extensive research attention, but climate change could also alter belowground processes such as the delicate balance between free-living fungal decomposers and nutrient-scavenging mycorrhizal fungi that can inhibit decomposition through a mechanism called the Gadgil effect. • We investigated how climate change-induced reductions in plant survival, photosynthesis and productivity alter soil fungal community composition in a mixed arbuscular/ectomycorrhizal (AM/EM) semiarid shrubland exposed to experimental warming (W) and/or rainfall reduction (RR). We hypothesised that increased EM host plant mortality under a warmer and drier climate might decrease ectomycorrhizal fungal (EMF) abundance, thereby favouring the proliferation and activity of fungal saprotrophs. • The relative abundance of EMF sequences decreased by 57.5% under W+RR, which was accompanied by reductions in the activity of hydrolytic enzymes involved in the acquisition of organic-bound nutrients by EMF and their host plants. W+RR thereby created an enhanced potential for soil organic matter (SOM) breakdown and nitrogen mineralisation by decomposers, as revealed by 127–190% increases in dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen, respectively, and decreasing SOM content in soil. • Climate aridification impacts on vegetation can cascade belowground through shifts in fungal guild structure that alter ecosystem biogeochemistry and accelerate SOM decomposition by reducing the Gadgil effect.

Fungal communities are essential to the maintenance of soil multifunctionality. Plant invasion represents a growing challenge for the conservation of soil biodiversity across the globe, but the impact of non-native species invasion on fungal diversity, community structure, and assembly processes remains largely unknown. Here, we examined the diversity, community composition, functional guilds, and assembly process of fungi at three soil depths underneath a native species, three non-native species, and a bare tidal flat from a coastal wetland. Plant species was more important than soil depth in regulating the diversity, community structure, and functional groups of fungi. Non-native species, especially Spartina alterniflora , increased fungal diversity, altered fungal community structure, and increased the relative abundance of saprotrophic and pathogenic fungi in coastal wetland soils. Stochastic processes played a predominant role in driving fungal community assembly, explaining more than 70% of the relative contributions. However, compared to a native species, non-native species, especially S. alterniflora , reduced the relative influence of stochastic processes in fungal community assembly. Collectively, our results provide novel evidence that non-native species can increase fungal diversity, the relative abundance of saprotrophic and pathogenic fungi, and deterministic processes in the assembly of fungi in coastal wetlands, which can expand our knowledge of the dynamics of fungal communities in subtropical coastal wetlands.

1. Agricultural expansion and intensification are major threats to tropical biodiversity. In addition to the direct removal of native vegetation, agricultural expansion often elicits other human-induced disturbances, many of which are poorly addressed by existing environmental legislation and conservation programmes. This is particularly true for tropical freshwater systems, where there is considerable uncertainty about whether a legislative focus on protecting riparian vegetation is sufficient to conserve stream fauna. 2. To assess the extent to which stream fish are being effectively conserved in agricultural landscapes, we examined the spatial distribution of assemblages in river basins to identify the relative importance of human impacts at instream, riparian and catchment scales, in shaping observed patterns. We used an extensive dataset on the ecological condition of 83 low-order streams distributed in three river basins in the eastern Brazilian Amazon. 3. We collected and identified 24,420 individual fish from 134 species. Multiplicative diversity partitioning revealed high levels of compositional dissimilarity (DS) among stream sites (DS = 0.74 to 0.83) and river basins (DS = 0.82), due mainly to turnover (77.8% to 81.8%) rather than nestedness. The highly heterogeneous fish faunas in small Amazonian streams underscore the vital importance of enacting measures to protect forests on private lands outside of public protected areas. 4. Instream habitat features explained more variability in fish assemblages (15%-19%) than riparian (2%-12%), catchment (4%-13%) or natural covariates (4%-11%). Although grouping species into functional guilds allowed us to explain up to 31% of their abundance (i.e. for nektonic herbivores), individual riparian - and catchment - scale predictor variables that are commonly a focus of environmental legislation explained very little of the observed variation (partial R² values mostly <5%). 5. Policy implications. Current rates of agricultural intensification and mechanization tropical landscapes are unprecedented, yet the existing legislative frameworks focusing on protecting riparian vegetation seem insufficient to conserve stream environments and their fish assemblages. To safeguard the species-rich freshwater biota of small Amazonian streams, conservation actions must shift towards managing whole basins and drainage networks, as well as agricultural practices in already-cleared land.

Microbial consortia show promise for sustainable agriculture, yet their field performance often remains inconsistent due to ecological imbalance and instability in complex soil environments. The Yogic Microbiome (YoMiCom) framework addresses this challenge by presenting a systems-based approach to microbial consortium design, where plant-beneficial functions are organized into coordinated functional guilds that support ecological balance, compatibility, and resilience. By combining guild-based assembly with quantitative design metrics, such as the Functional Guild Index for strain prioritization and the Guild Balance Coefficient for functional distribution, within an iterative Design–Build–Test–Learn framework, YoMiCom shifts the focus from empirical assembly to structured, context-driven design. This framework is presented as a testable conceptual design approach that can be evaluated and refined across diverse agroecological contexts, thereby supporting the development of ecologically compatible and functionally balanced solutions for sustainable agriculture.

In dung beetles, spatial and temporal segregation is determined by the niche and evolutionary history of the species and is mediated by competition. Different functional guilds of dung beetles use this segregation to reduce competitive pressure and optimize usage of ephemeral resources. We sought to understand the spatial (open and closed areas) and temporal (diurnal, nocturnal, and crepuscular periods of activity) segregation of the dung beetle community in the Brazilian Cerrado. We collected dung beetles during the day, dusk, and night in two phytophysiognomies, one representative of open areas and the other of closed areas in two protected areas of the Brazilian Cerrado, and used statistical models to understand how segregation explains richness, total abundance, and abundance of each guild. We collected a total of 2253 individuals and 58 species; 44 from open areas and 22 from closed ones, of which eight were collected in both habitats. Our hypotheses were confirmed, that is, in the Cerrado, the highest abundance of dung beetles occurred in the more closed areas during nocturnal and crepuscular periods, and the highest number of species occurred in the more open areas. The dung beetle community is distinct between different activity periods and phytophysiognomies, and its their functional guilds exhibit preferences for habitat and/or activity periods, according to their ecological characteristics. Therefore, we found that both activity period and habitat type are important for characterizing the dung beetle community, which exhibits different patterns of dominant species and functional guilds throughout the day. Thus, we propose that to determine the species composition of the dung beetle community, one should consider not only the habitat type but also the different periods of activity.

Global climate change is characterized by altered global atmospheric composition, including elevated CO 2 and O 3 , with important consequences on soil fungal communities. However, the function and community composition of soil fungi in response to elevated CO 2 together with elevated O 3 in paddy soils remain largely unknown. Here we used twelve open-top chamber facilities (OTCs) to evaluate the interactive effect of CO 2 (+ 200 ppm) and O 3 (+ 40 ppb) on the diversity, gene abundance, community structure, and functional composition of soil fungi during the growing seasons of two rice cultivars (Japonica, Wuyujing 3 vs. Nangeng 5055) in a Chinese paddy soil. Elevated CO 2 and O 3 showed no individual or combined effect on the gene abundance or relative abundance of soil fungi, but increased structural complexity of soil fungal communities, indicating that elevated CO 2 and/or O 3 promoted the competition of species-species interactions. When averaged both cultivars, elevated CO 2 showed no individual effect on the diversity or abundance of functional guilds of soil fungi. By contrast, elevated O 3 significantly reduced the relative abundance and diversity of symbiotrophic fungi by an average of 47.2% and 39.1%, respectively. Notably, elevated O 3 exerts stronger effects on the functional processes of fungal communities than elevated CO 2 . The structural equation model revealed that elevated CO 2 and/or O 3 indirectly affected the functional composition of soil fungi through community structure and diversity of soil fungi. Root C/N and soil environmental parameters were identified as the top direct predictors for the community structure of soil fungi. Furthermore, significant correlations were identified between saprotrophic fungi and root biomass, symbiotrophic fungi and root carbon, the pathotroph-symbiotroph and soil pH, as well as pathotroph-saprotroph-symbiotroph and soil microbial biomass carbon. These results suggest that climatic factors substantially affected the functional processes of soil fungal, and threatened soil function and food production, highlighting the detrimental impacts of high O 3 on the function composition of soil biota.

Pollinators mediate interspecific and intraspecific plant–plant indirect interactions (competition vs. facilitation) via density-dependent processes, potentially shaping the dynamics of plant communities. However, it is still unclear which ecological drivers regulate density-dependent patterns, including scale, pollination niches (i.e., the main pollinator functional group) and floral attractiveness to pollinators. In this study, we conducted three-year field observations in Hengduan Mountains of southwest China. By gathering data for more than 100 animal-pollinated plant species, we quantified the effect (positive vs. negative) of conspecific and heterospecific flower density on pollination at two scales: plot-level (4 m2) and site-level (100–5000 m2). Then, we investigated how pollination niches and floral attractiveness to pollinators (estimated here as average per-flower visitation rates) modulated density-dependent pollination interactions. Pollinator visitation depended on conspecific and heterospecific flower density, with rare plants subjected to interspecific competition at the plot-level and interspecific facilitation at the site-level. Such interspecific competition at the plot-level was stronger for plants pollinated by diverse insects, while interspecific facilitation at the site-level was stronger for bee-pollinated plants. Moreover, we also found stronger positive conspecific density-dependence for plants with lower floral attractiveness at the site-level, meaning that they become more frequently visited when abundant. Our study indicates that the role of pollination in maintaining rare plants and plant diversity depends on the balance of density-dependent processes in species-rich communities. We show here that such balance is modulated by scale, pollination niches and floral attractiveness to pollinators, indicating the context-dependency of diversity maintenance mechanisms.