Wind Patterns Shape the Structure and Diversity of Soil Fungal Communities

Fungi are vital for healthy soils, forests, and crops. They help plants grow, recycle nutrients, and store carbon. To spread, most fungi release tiny spores that travel through the air. But we still don’t fully understand how wind shapes where fungi live and how their communities form.

So we combined large-scale wind maps with soil DNA data from over 100 sites across North America—from Alaska’s tundra to Puerto Rico’s tropical forests, and used computer models to see if wind patterns can explain how fungal communities are distributed.

We found three things:
1. Wind, not just distance, strongly shapes where wind-dispersed fungi are found.

2. Fungi carried by animals (like truffle-formers) followed different patterns, depending more on geography.

3. Soils located “downwind” had more diverse fungal communities than those “upwind.”

Why is this important?
As climate change alters wind patterns, it could change how fungi spread and where they can survive. Since fungi are essential for ecosystems and agriculture, understanding wind’s role will help us predict future soil health and biodiversity.

SUMMARY:

Fungal spores are predominantly dispersed by wind, yet most studies rely only on geographic distance to explain community assembly. This limits our ability to predict how fungi will respond to climate change, despite their essential roles in soil health, plant symbiosis, and ecosystem functioning.

The authors developed windscape models using three decades of continental-scale wind data to simulate potential dispersal pathways for fungal spores. These were combined with DNA sequencing data from 108 soil sites across North America, spanning tundra to tropical forests.

Wind connectivity explained fungal community composition better than geographic distance, particularly for fungi with wind-dispersed spores (Ascomycetes, Agaricoid fungi).

Animal-dispersed fungi (Gasteroid-hypogeous) showed no wind signature and instead tracked geographic distances.

Downwind sites hosted significantly higher fungal diversity than upwind sites.

Overall, wind patterns accounted for ~50% of community variation alongside soil and climate variables.

Prevailing windflow is a key but underappreciated driver of fungal biogeography. As climate change alters wind regimes, by potentially reducing global wind speeds, fungal dispersal and their ability to track shifting climatic niches may be constrained. Recognizing wind as a dispersal barrier is crucial for improving biodiversity forecasting and ecosystem management.