Fungal succession and decomposition of composted aquatic plants applied to soil

Few studies have documented the pattern of fungal colonization and decomposition of composted aquatic plants applied for amending soil. In the present study, we demonstrated the fungal succession and its relationship with chemical changes in decomposing composted aquatic plants applied to soil, by performing a 6-month litterbag experiment incubating three types of composted aquatic plants differing in the years of composting. A total of 189 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) of fungi were detected, including 115 and 34 OTUs in Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, respectively. The OTU richness generally increased with the progression of decomposition and was not significantly different among the three types of composted aquatic plants. Redundancy analysis indicated the relationships among the fungal assemblages, type of composted aquatic plants, duration of decomposition, and chemical changes in composted aquatic plants. Fungal succession was generally characterized by the cumulative increase of major OTUs and was affected by the contents of extractives, total carbohydrates, total carbon, and total nitrogen in decomposing composted aquatic plants.