Wood-colonizing fungal community response to forest restoration thinnings in a Pinus tabuliformis plantation in northern China

Abstract Forest restoration thinning in Chinese pine (Pinus tabuliformis) plantations can alter stand structure and soil abiotic properties, which have the potential to change biotic properties such as wood-inhabiting fungal community structure. Therefore, three thinning treatments (30%, 41% and 53% of the standing biomass removed) and an unthinned control stand were established at stand age 35 to determine the effects on surface and mineral soil wood-inhabiting fungi. Chinese pine, loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), and trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) wood stakes were placed horizontally on the soil surface and inserted vertically into the mineral soil and sampled over 3 years. Fungal species were identified using high-throughput amplicon sequencing (HTAS) of DNA barcode regions. Across all wood stake species on the soil surface, operational taxonomic unit (OTU) richness averaged 138 OTUs per thinning treatment. Significantly greater OTU richness (p