Soil fungal composition and diversity in oil palm plantation at sungai Asap, Sarawak, Malaysia

Abstract

A study was carried out to compare the soil fungal composition and diversity in oil palm plantation with the adjacent secondary forest at Sungai Asap, Sarawak, Malaysia using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Findings revealed that soil fungal composition in the oil palm plantation was significantly different compared with undisturbed secondary forest (SF1) and disturbed secondary forest (SF2) by forming three main clusters as shown in the principal component analysis (PCA). Furthermore, DGGE profile revealed that the banding pattern of oil palm planted area (OPPA) remained diverse throughout the assessment years. However, DGGE banding patterns of SF1 and SF2 showed similarities as noted in the dry season (June 2011) whereby both clusters were overlapped. The composition of soil fungal community in oil palm plantation was dominated by fungi from the phylum Ascomycota whereas secondary forests were dominated by fungi from Basidiomycota. Biodiversity indices showed that the soil fungal diversity in SF1 was higher than SF2 and OPPA. It was postulated that there was possible interactions between soil fungal communities with plantation activities thereby soil fungal communities were shifted in order to acclimatise with new environments in the plantation. E IN PRE