Comparative Analysis of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Communities between Farmland and Woodland in the Black Soil Region of Northeast China

The black soil region of northeast China is a critical production base for commercial grain in China. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are widely present in terrestrial ecosystems and play a vital role in ecosystem stability. Here, we investigated the diversity and composition of AMF communities in farmland and woodland from 20 sites in the black soil region of northeast China using Illumina MiSeq sequencing. The sequences were classified into 1 phylum, 1 class, 4 orders, 8 families, and 11 genera. Glomerales and Paraglomerales were observed as the most abundant order in farmland and woodland, respectively, and also belonged to abundant orders of the black soil region in northeast China, accounting for more than 90% of the total. Furthermore, Paraglomus, Claroideoglomus, and Glomus were the most abundant genera. Canonical correspondence analysis demonstrated the effect of soil pH, invertase, nitrogen, phosphorus, and soil organic carbon (SOC) contents on AMF community composition. Results from the correlation analysis revealed a reduction in AMF diversity with increases in SOC and phosphorus contents. These findings suggest AMF community composition varied with land use type (farmland and woodland), and provide a basis for protecting and utilizing AMF resources in the black soil region of northeast China.