How the multiple facets of soil fungal diversity vary worldwide remains virtually unknown, hindering the management of this essential species-rich group. By sequencing high-resolution DNA markers in over 4000 topsoil samples from natural and human-altered ecosystems across all continents, we illustrate the distributions and drivers of different levels of taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of fungi and their ecological groups. We show the impact of precipitation and temperature interactions on local fungal species richness (alpha diversity) across different climates. Our findings reveal how temperature drives fungal compositional turnover (beta diversity) and phylogenetic diversity, linking them with regional species richness (gamma diversity). We integrate fungi into the principles of global biodiversity distribution and present detailed maps for biodiversity conservation and modeling of global ecological processes.
GrantsGerman Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Ghent University Special Research Fund (BOF): Metusalem EEA Financial Mechanism Baltic Research Programme in Estonia Kew Foundation Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research MISTRA: Project BioPath Swedish Research Council Swedish Research Council Formas Generalitat Valenciana European Research Council (ERC) Marie Sklodowska-Curie Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation: SOIL4GROWTH Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation British Ecological Society European Regional Development Fund: Centre of Excellence EcolChange King Saud University: Highly Cited Program King Saud University Norway-Baltic financial mechanism Novo Nordisk Fonden Estonian Research Council Estonian Science Foundation Higher Education Commision (HEC, Islamabad, Pakistan): Indigenous and International research support initiative program (IRSIP) scholarship Botswana International University of Science and Technology Eotvos Lorand Research Network Hungarian Academy of Sciences: Lenduelet Programme Estonian University of Life Sciences IRIS scholarship for progressive and ambitious women High -Level Talent Recruitment Plan of Yunnan Provinces: "High-End Foreign Experts"Program High-Level Talent Recruitment Plan of Yunnan Provinces: "Young Talents" Program Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO) King Leopold III Fund for Nature Exploration and Conservation Ghent University: The Faculty Committee Scientific Research, FCWO Ghent University: Bijzonder Onderzoeksfonds AUA grant from research council of UAE University High -Level Talent Recruitment Plan of Yunnan Province 2021: "High-End Foreign Experts" Proyecto SIA Secretaria de Ciencia y Tecnica (SECYT) of Universidad Nacional de Cordoba Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education Qatar Petroleum Carlsberg Foundation NERC-CONICYT NERC core funding: the BAS Biodiversity, Evolution and Adaptation Team Czech Science Foundation UNAM-PAPIIT U.S. National Science Foundation Academy of Finland European Research Council (ERC): Synergy Grant Fondecyt CONICET