Effects of Forest Age on Soil Fungal Community in a Northern Temperate Ecosystem

The polymorphisms of soil fungal rDNA Internal Transcribed Spacer regions were studied in Korean pine forests of various ages (10-100-year-old trees) by means of cloned libraries, and analyzed to determine the effects of the trees' developmental stage on soil fungal community structure. The obtained Shannon diversity index (H) and richness (S) indicated that the diversity of the soil fungal community increased significantly with the development of Korean pines (P < 0.05). In addition, cluster analysis (UPGMA) showed that the soil fungal community variety associated with differently aged Korean pines was higher than 50 %. The soil fungal community diversity correlated significantly with the N content and C/N ratio of the soil (P < 0.05). The results of this study indicate that the age of in Korean pine can affect soil fungal community by altering soil properties, which in turn could affect the nutrient cycling in the forest ecosystem.