Fungi in Ecosystem Processes

Adopting the novel approach of viewing the role of fungi from the perspective of ecosystem functions, this book examines the importance of fungi in soil formation, plant primary production, sustenance of secondary producers, and regulation of plant and animal populations and communities. This volume emphasizes the idea that fungi are not alone in the regulation of these processes. It addresses the main processes occurring in ecosystems and showing where and how fungi are critical, and enables readers to gain a better understanding of the role of fungi in shaping ecosystems. Fungi in Ecosystem Processes considers the negative impact of fungi on faunal productivity and includes more than 1200 citations.

Designed for graduate students and researchers, Dighton's (Rutgers U.; Institute of Marine and Coastal Science, New Brunswick) text summarizes the vast literature on fungi, with some 1300 references cited. The author begins with and then builds upon the list of functions fungi perform in ecosystems, as suggested by Alan Rayner in The Fungal Community: Its Structure and Function (Marcel Dekker, 1992), including the role of fungi in soil formation, plant primary production, sustenance of secondary producers, and regulation of plant and animal populations and communities. He also demonstrates how the world would function less satisfactorily in the absence of fungi. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR