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ABSTRACT
The study was carried out with soil sampled from an old cacao (Above 15 years) plantation in Ondo State, Nigeria to determine the diversity of fungal communities in Cocoa plantation. Soil samples were randomly obtained from five locations at topsoil on 0-15cm depth using soil auger. Soil analysis carried includes physical, chemical and microbial analysis. The data generated from the study was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The pH range of soils from different sampled locations was extremely acidic (4.62) to strongly acidic (5.18). The textural class of soils across the cocoa Plantations ranges from Sandy loam to Sandy clay loam. The correlation matrix shows that Nitrogen was positively correlated with phosphorus and potassium with values of 0.772 and 0.722 respectively which suggests that an increase in nitrogen content is associated higher levels of phosphorus and potassium in the soil leading to increased soil fertility. Result also shows that the mean total fungal count had higher values (3.24cfu/g) in Location 2 compared to other (2.59-3.19cfu/g) locations. Aspergillus Niger, Mucor mucedo, Penicillium spp, Trichoderma viridae, Neurospora spp and Bjerkandera Adusta were identified as the possible fungal species found in the sample locations which all belong to Ascomycetes class of fungi except Mucor mucedo which belongs to Zygomycetes class of fungi. The results, however revealed a diverse presence of fungi species which are important for soil fertility. Efforts should be made to correct the pH and other declining soil properties to improve the fungal communities in the soil.
