applicability. There is not enough discussion about possible empirical approaches to the niche concept (Chapter 4). Although this is probably due to niche hypotheses being very difficult to test empirically, it will be necessary if their framework is to be adopted at all. The authors boldly claim that the niche framework is able to provide explanatory hypotheses about macroecological and macro-...

Mating type genes regulate sexual compatibility and sexual reproduction in fungi. This review focuses on recent molecular analyses of well-characterized mating systems from representative ascomycete (Neurospora crassa, Podospora anserina) and basidiomycete (Ustilago maydis, Coprinus cinereus, Schizophyllum commune) fungi. These mating systems include many conserved components, such as gene regu...

Genetic mating systems are expected to vary among and within populations in response to environmental and demographic factors. Despite the fact that mating system variation theoretically can have profound effects on important evolutionary processes such as sexual selection, extensive intraspecific surveys of geographical variation in mating systems are rare. We used microsatellite markers to ch...