Short-Term Pesticide Exposure Reshapes Soil Fungal Communities in a Soil-Dependent Manner

The ecological consequences of pesticide application for soil fungal communities remain insufficiently resolved. We assessed the short-term direct effects of eight pesticides on fungal abundance, alpha diversity, community composition, and trophic structure across three agricultural soils. Responses varied strongly among soils and pesticides, with no consistent fungal suppression. Alpha-diversity metrics changed little and inconsistently, whereas community composition shifted markedly, indicating that short-term pesticide exposure can rapidly reorganize fungal communities before detectable changes in richness or evenness occur. Soil 1 showed the strongest responses, while Soil 2 was resistant. Although the relative abundance of most trophic groups remained largely stable, their internal composition was often substantially restructured, suggesting taxonomic turnover without major functional-group-level shifts. Total arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) abundance varied among soils, increasing under several treatments in Soil 1 but decreasing under selected treatments in Soil 3. Soil pH was associated with fungal diversity, community composition, and total AMF abundance; however, pesticide-induced pH changes were not consistently linked to microbial responses, indicating that pH alone does not explain them. Overall, short-term pesticide exposure drove selective community restructuring rather than uniform diversity loss, with effects dependent on soil context. These findings support soil-specific risk assessment of pesticide impacts on soil fungi.