Prolonged impact of fire on peatland fungi despite rapid recovery of vegetation, prokaryotes, and soil physicochemistry

Climate change is increasing the frequency of wildfires in ecosystems that historically rarely burn, such as wet heaths and peatlands, thereby threatening carbon storage, biodiversity, and ecosystem functioning. We conducted a three-year, multi-level study to assess early post-fire recovery trajectories of soil physicochemical properties, vegetation, and soil microbial communities in a wet peatland-heathland mosaic affected by a flaming wildfire. Using a paired-plot design of burned and adjacent intact plots, we observed immediate spikes in bioavailable nitrogen (NH, NO-) and phosphorus (POlsen) and a reduction in soil moisture in burned plots, yet two years later these parameters had normalized, indicating rapid abiotic recovery. Vegetation was also strongly altered in the year of the fire, quantifiable by a distinct destruction of herb, moss, tree and litter cover. Although initial regrowth was dominated by a relatively fast resprouting of the graminoid Molinia caerulea, its absolute cover in burned plots never exceeded its cover in intact plots, suggesting this species did not expand post-fire. More typical peatland and wet heath species, including ericoid shrubs and Sphagnum mosses, recovered more gradually but largely returned to pre-fire levels within the timespan of our study, highlighting high vegetation resilience. Soil microbial communities showed contrasting responses. Prokaryotic communities shifted immediately after burning but largely recovered within one year. Fungal communities, however, exhibited stronger and more persistent changes and followed a distinct recovery trajectory shaped by succession of immediate and delayed fungal responders. Overall, pyrophilous and fire-tolerant fungi, such as Coniochaeta spp., increased, as did many presumably generalist or opportunistic saprotrophs. Litter and wood-associated saprotrophs as well as many mycorrhizal taxa, however, declined. Ongoing fungal shifts occurred even after soil chemistry and vegetation had largely returned to baseline, reflecting a temporary decoupling between above- and belowground communities that may have cascading effects on ecosystem functioning. In conclusion, our results reveal differential recovery trajectories across the soil-microbiome-vegetation interface and highlight that seemingly rapid abiotic and aboveground biotic recovery can mask prolonged microbial disruptions. We emphasize the importance of multi-level assessments for understanding ecosystem resilience. HighlightsO_LISoil physicochemistry, vegetation and prokaryotes recovered rapidly after a peatland wildfire C_LIO_LIFungal communities lagged behind and followed a slower recovery trajectory C_LIO_LIThe timing and duration of fungal responses to fire varied across taxa and included immediate or delayed as well as short-lived or persistent responders C_LIO_LIThere was a mismatch between vegetation and fungal recovery trajectories, evidenced by a transient post-disturbance decoupling between above- and belowground biotic communities C_LIO_LIPresumed aboveground recovery can mask prolonged belowground disruptions, with potential implications for decomposition, nutrient cycling, and plant-microbe interactions C_LI