FUNGAL MICROBIOLOGY Responses of Soil Fungi to Logging and Oil Palm Agriculture in Southeast Asian Tropical Forests

Abstract Human land use alters soil microbial composition and function in a variety of systems, although few comparable studies have been done in tropical forests and tropical agri-cultural production areas. Logging and the expansion of oil palm agriculture are two of the most significant drivers of tropical deforestation, and the latter is most prevalent in Southeast Asia. The aim of this study was to compare soil fungal communities from three sites inMalaysia that represent three of the most dominant land-use types in the Southeast Asia tropics: a primary forest, a regenerating forest that had been selectively logged 50 years previously, and a 25-year-old oil palm plantation. Soil cores were collected from three replicate plots at each site, and fungal communities were sequenced using the Illumina platform. Extracellular enzyme assays were assessed as a proxy for soil microbial function