Temperature sensitivity of soil-borne fungal phytopathogens depends on niche breadth and land use types

Abstract

Soil-borne fungal plant pathogens pose great threats to agricultural productivity and native ecosystems. However, the roles of niche breadth and land-use types in regulating the response of soil-borne fungal plant pathogens to temperature changes largely remain unclear. Here, we surveyed soil pathogens from different valleys where croplands, grasslands, and woodlands scattered in mosaic patterns. We found that pathogen richness increased with increasing temperature in grasslands but not in croplands and woodlands. After classifying the pathogens based on temperature niche, we found that the richness of specialists was sensitive to temperature changes and increased with increasing temperature in grasslands and croplands. By contrast, the richness of neutrals (those taxa not defined as generalists or specialists) did not change with temperature gradients regardless of land-use types. Additionally, pathogens were more abundant and diverse in croplands than those in grasslands and woodlands, and this pattern persisted across the temperature gradient. Our results provide evidence that temperature change and land use types could additively affect the diversity of plant pathogens in soils. This work advances our understanding of how niche breadth affects the response of pathogens to temperature, highlighting the importance of climate change and land use in regulating the abundance and diversity of pathogens.