DOI: 10.5061/dryad.gtht76hx1
title: Abiotic environments prevail over plant functional traits in shaping phyllosphere fungal communities of temperate grasslands in China

description: Phyllosphere fungi play a crucial role in plant health, yet the specific
 mechanisms governing their diversity and structure in different leaf
 habitats (endophytic and epiphytic) lack systematic comparison.
 Additionally, current studies rarely comprehensively consider how abiotic
 environments and plant functional traits jointly shape phyllosphere fungal
 communities across environmental gradients. We collected 231 leaf samples
 from nine sites in temperate grasslands of northern China, and explored
 the effect of abiotic environments and plant functional traits on the
 diversity and structure of phyllosphere fungi at the regional scale. Our
 analysis revealed that aridity, poor soil conditions, and leaf pH
 decreased the relative abundance of leaf endophytic saprophytic fungi, and
 plants with a ‘fast-growing’ strategy promoted the relative abundance of
 phyllosphere pathogenic fungi. The positive effects of aridity and poor
 soils on the richness of leaf endophytic fungi were undermined by soil
 fungal richness, while the richness and Pielou’s evenness of leaf
 epiphytic fungi was inhibited by the availability of soil resources. Soil
 organic carbon emerged as a key factor influencing the composition of
 phyllosphere fungal communities, and leaf endophytic fungi were subject to
 greater dispersal limitation than their epiphytic counterparts. Our
 findings demonstrate that abiotic environments prevail over plant
 functional traits in shaping phyllosphere fungal communities, offering new
 insights into plant-fungi interactions.
description: # **Abiotic environments prevail over plant functional traits in shaping
 phyllosphere fungal communities of temperate grasslands in China**
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.gtht76hx1](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.gtht76hx1) ## Description of the data and file structure We collected 231 leaf samples from nine sites in temperate grasslands of northern China. This dataset contains data on plant functional traits as well as the environment in which the plant is located.  We have submitted our raw data: 1\) data.xlsx; (We use this data for linear mixed-effects modelling and piecewise structural equation modelling.) 2\) Trait.xlsx; (In the `PCA folder`. We performed principal component analysis (PCA) to reduce the dimensionality of the abiotic environmental variables and plant functional traits, respectively.) 3\) mite.xy_epi.csv; mite.xyendo.csv; (In the `spatial_distance folder`. We calculated spatial distances between samples based on longitude and latitude.) 4\) sample_species_list_N.csv; sample_species_list_Y.csv; (In the `species_list folder`. We calculated the phylogenetic distance between species.) 5\) N.csv; Y.csv; otu.raw.N.csv; otu.raw.Y.csv; Soil.N.csv; Soil.Y.csv; Total.N.csv; Total.Y.csv; distance_matrix_N.csv; distance_matrix_Y.csv; (In the `VPA folder`. We used multiple regression on dissimilarity matrices (MRM) to explored the influence of abiotic environments, spatial distance, soil fungal community composition, and plant attributes on the composition of leaf endophytic and epiphytic fungal communities.) ### Files and variables #### File: data.xlsx **Description:** Data for linear mixed effects models and structural equation models ##### Variables * PCA1_env.: Scores on the first axis of the principal component analysis of abiotic environments; * PCA2_env.: Scores on the second axis of the principal component analysis of abiotic environments; * PCA1_PFT: Scores on the first axis of the principal component analysis of plant functional traits; * PCA2_PFT: Scores on the second axis of the principal component analysis of plant functional traits; * Ascomycota: relative abundance of Ascomycota; * Basidiomycota: relative abundance of Basidiomycota; * Plant_pathogens: relative abundance of plant pathogens; * Saprotrophs: relative abundance of Saprotrophs; * ASV: fungal ASV richness; * Pielou: fungal Pielou's evenness; * Div_soil: soil fungal ASV richness; #### File: Trait.xlsx **Description:** Leaf functional traits and soil properties data, in the PCA folder. ##### Variables * MAT: mean annual temperature (℃); * MAP: mean annual precipitation (mm); * MI: moisture index; pHsoil: soil pH; * SWC: soil water content (%); * SOC: soil organic carbon (g/kg); * TN: total nitrogen (g/kg); * NH: ammonium nitrogen (mg/kg); * NO: nitrate nitrogen (mg/kg); * TP: total phosphorus (g/kg); * AP: available phosphorus (mg/kg); * pH_Leaf: leaf pH; * LDMC: leaf dry matter content (%); * SLA: specific leaf area (cm2mg-1); * LNC: leaf nitrogen content (%); * LPC: leaf phosphorous content (%); * Height: natural height of plants (cm); * pH_soil: soil pH; #### File: mite.xy\_epi.csv, mite.xy\_endo.csv **Description:** spatial distances calculation, in the spatial_distance folder. ##### Variables * x: Longtitude * y: Latitude #### File: sample\_species\_list\_N.csv, sample\_species\_list\_Y.csv **Description:** calculation of the phylogenetic distance of the host, in the species_list folder. ##### Variables * genus * family #### File: #### N.csv (Data used for endophytic fungal analysis); #### Y.csv (Data used for epiphytic fungal analysis); **Description:** Environment variables, in the VPA folder. ##### Variables * MAT: mean annual temperature (℃); * MAP: mean annual precipitation (mm); * MI: moisture index; pHsoil: soil pH; * SWC: soil water content (%); * SOC: soil organic carbon (g/kg); * TN: total nitrogen (g/kg); * NH: ammonium nitrogen (mg/kg); * NO: nitrate nitrogen (mg/kg); * TP: total phosphorus (g/kg); * AP: available phosphorus (mg/kg); * pH_Leaf: leaf pH; * LDMC: leaf dry matter content (%); * SLA: specific leaf area (cm2mg-1); * LNC: leaf nitrogen content (%); * LPC: leaf phosphorous content (%); * Height: natural height of plants (cm); * pH_soil: soil pH #### File: otu.raw\.N.csv (Data used for endophytic fungal analysis); **Description:** Composition of endophytic fungal communities, in the VPA folder. #### File: otu.raw\.Y.csv (Data used for epiphytic fungal analysis) **Description:** Composition of epiphytic fungal communities, in the VPA folder. #### File: Soil.N.csv (Data used for endophytic fungal analysis); **Description:** Soil fungal community composition, in the VPA folder. #### File: Soil.Y.csv (Data used for epiphytic fungal analysis); **Description:** Soil fungal community composition, in the VPA folder. #### File: Total.N.csv (Data used for endophytic fungal analysis); **Description:** phylogenetic distance of the host, in the VPA folder. #### File: Total.Y.csv (Data used for epiphytic fungal analysis); **Description:** phylogenetic distance of the host, in the VPA folder. #### File: distance\_matrix\_N.csv (Data used for endophytic fungal analysis); **Description:** spatial distance, in the VPA folder. #### File: distance\_matrix\_Y.csv (Data used for epiphytic fungal analysis); **Description:** spatial distance, in the VPA folder. ### Code/Software * File:code\_ISME.R * File:RFunctions.R (In the VPA folder)