Summary
Soil fungal communities are vital in agro-ecosystems, driving organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling, yet their distribution across soil depths remain underexplored. This study utilized high-throughput sequencing of fungal ITS2 amplicons to investigate fungal richness, diversity, community composition, and potential functions along a depth gradient (0–100 cm) under various fertilizer treatments in the field (control, NK, NP, PK, NPK). Results revealed that fungal richness and diversity peaked in topsoil (0–30 cm) and markedly declined in subsoil layers (30–100 cm), with distinct fungal taxa present in each layer. The C to N ratio (C/N) (12.9 %) was the most important predictor for ASV observed richness, while Depth (12.8 %) and C/N (11.1 %) were the top predictors for Shannon di
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