Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Fungi provide numerous ecosystem services that are essential in maintaining ecological environments and reducing the effects of climate change. [3] Fungi help facilitate the nutrient cycle and carbon cycle, act as a food source for humans and animals, regulate animals populations, and contribute to the degradation of various pollutants. [3]
This causes the biocrust's water content to change depending on the water in the surrounding environment. Due to biological soil crust existing in mostly arid and semi-arid environments with the inability to hold water, the crust is mainly dormant except for short periods of activity when the crust receives precipitation. [15]
There is much work ahead to gain a better understanding of the ecological role of soil biological components in the biosphere. In balanced soil, plants grow in an active and steady environment. The mineral content of the soil and its heartiful [ clarification needed ] structure are important for their well-being, but it is the life in the earth ...
Marine microorganisms are defined by their habitat as microorganisms living in a marine environment, that is, in the saltwater of a sea or ocean or the brackish water of a coastal estuary. A microorganism (or microbe ) is any microscopic living organism or virus , which is invisibly small to the unaided human eye without magnification .
Aquatic fungi are found in a myriad of ecosystems, from mangroves, to wetlands, to the open ocean. [7] The greatest diversity and number of species of mycoplankton is found in surface waters (< 1000 m), and the vertical profile depends on the abundance of phytoplankton .
Despite their varied roles, remarkably little is known about the diversity of this major branch of eukaryotic life in marine ecosystems or their ecological functions. [6] Fungi represent a large and diverse group of microorganisms in microbiological communities in the marine environment and have an important role in nutrient cycling. [7]
However, fungi can metabolize at higher temperatures and lower water potentials than bacteria. Therefore, in arid ecosystems where precipitation falls during the hot season, fungi are likely the most important contributors to nutrient cycling due to their tolerance to temperature and ability to persist during long dry periods.
It is possible that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi may be outcompeting free-living decomposers for either water or nutrients in some systems as well; however, to date there is no demonstration of this, and it seems that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi may more often increase, rather than decrease rates of decomposition by free-living microbial ...