Ectomycorrhizal Fungi: Participation in Nutrient Turnover and Community Assembly Pattern in Forest Ecosystems

Forest Ecosystems: Nutrient Cycling

Nutrients are elements or compounds that are essential for the growth and survival of plants. Plants require large amounts of nutrients such as nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), and magnesium (Mg), but only small amounts of others such as boron (B), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) and chlorine (Cl) (micronutrients)...

Nutrient Turnover Rates in Ancient Terrestrial Ecosystems

Forest Management Type Influences Diversity and Community Composition of Soil Fungi across Temperate Forest Ecosystems

Fungal communities have been shown to be highly sensitive toward shifts in plant diversity and species composition in forest ecosystems. However, little is known about the impact of forest management on fungal diversity and community composition of geographically separated sites. This study examined the effects of four different forest management types on soil fungal communities. These forest m...

Endophytic phyllosphere fungi and nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems

The importance of phyllosphere fungi to ecosystem functioning via soil processes has aroused increasing interest during the last decade. Here, we briefly review the current knowledge of how the foliar endophytic fungi and nutrient cycling interact. Recent findings suggest that endophytes may affect plant litter quality, organisms that control litter decomposition and the availability of nutrien...

Ecohidrology and Nutrient Fluxes in Forest Ecosystems of Southern Chile

Nitrogen (N) cycling in terrestrial ecosystems is a global environmental concern. The N cycle is a complex interplay where biotic and abiotic processes interact to transform and transfer N in an ecosystem. In general, one can simplify by classifying terrestrial N cycles all over the world in two groups: ‘tight’ N cycles and ‘open’ N cycles. The ‘tight’ N cycle is characterized by its high effic...