Abstract: Fungi are one of the most diverse biological groups on the Earth. The widespread application of high-throughput sequencing technology over the last decade has greatly improved our understanding of fungal diversity. Fungal biogeography focuses on the geographical distribution pattern and driving factors of fungi at various spatial scales. Generally, soil fungal community does not exhibit a random distribution, while different biotic and/or abiotic factors and inherent characteristics of fungi jointly determine soil fungal community structure. Here, we aim to reveal the diversity and community composition of soil fungi, as well as the key drivers at different spatial scales and relevant biogeographic researches on their ecological functioning. At the global and continental scales, climatic factors and dispersal limitation are the most important factors influencing fungal diversity and distribution patterns. However, niche processes, host plants and soil physicochemical properties have substantial impacts on soil fungal species diversity and community composition at the regional and local scales. Neutral processes are considered to account for the assembly of fungal community at the fine scale. We suggest that future research should address the linkages among fungi, environmental factors, and human activities, the fungal responses to multiple global changes, through large geographic scale samplings covering more habitat or ecosystem types. Hopefully, this mini-review could provide some reference for promoting and improving the theory of soil fungal biogeography.

Key words: biogeography, community composition, diversity, fungi, scale