Fungal Spore Indicators Of Vegetation And Highland Pastoralism In Modern Topsoil And Dung, Eastern Tibetan Plateau

Recent research on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) has focused on the human-land relationship and its evolution through time; fossil fungal spores are promising proxies for recovering information on paleoecological changes and ancient anthropogenic activity. Modern analog fungal spore datasets are crucial for accurate paleoecological interpretation of fossil fungal spores, however, these are lacking for the QTP. In this study, we analyzed 130 modern samples of topsoil and herbivore dung from eastern QTP to assess fungal assemblages in different habitats and vegetational communities. The results indicate that fungal spores in different types of domestic herbivore dung samples are quite similar and dominated by Sporormiella spp., Urocystis sp., Sordaria spp., Pleospora spp., QTPF-01 (Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Fungi). Topsoil samples, collected from different vegetation zones, show more variation. Savoryella spp. is the dominant taxon in cropland samples, while Meliola spp. and Coniochaeta spp. are well associated with alpine forest environments. Fungal spore assemblages in alpine shrub, alpine meadow, and alpine steppe are mostly dominated by Glomus spp., together with Savoryella spp., Valsaria sp., Entorrhiza spp., and QTPF-03. Comparison of fungal assemblages in herbivore dung and topsoil samples suggests that Sporormiella spp., Urocystis sp., Sordaria spp., Pleospora spp., QTPF-01, Podospora spp., Delitschia A., and QTPF-07 are the most reliable dung indicators. The total concentration of coprophilous fungal spores is sensitive to grazing pressure and can be used to diagnose the intensity of pastoralism on the QTP. Our work provides vital modern analog data for fossil fungal spore studies on the QTP.