Fungal diversity, community assembly and interaction in mine tailings at a country scale
Mine tailings represent a global environmental problems arose by mining activities, characterized by lack of soil nutrient, sustained acidification  and high content of heavy metal. Fungi can thrive in a broad environmental range, and it is crucial to understand their diversity and adaptation to harsh environments. We conducted a country-scale survey to uncover the biogeography, community assembly and co-occurrence pattern of soil fungal communities in mine tailings across mainland China. Fungal diversity were influenced by the joint effects of environmental and spatial factors, particularly cation exchange capacity (CEC) and geographic distance. Soil fungal community assembly was primarily governed by stochastic processes. Soil total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) mediated the balance between stochastic and deterministic assembly in fungal community. Co-occurrence analyses uncovered the high modularity of the fungal community and core taxa exhibited versatile ecological functions. Overall, the results of this study provided an integrated understanding of fungal ecology in harsh environments.