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7 - The role of wood decay fungi in the carbon and nitrogen dynamics of the forest floor

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 December 2009

By
Sarah Watkinson ,
Dan Bebber ,
Peter Darrah ,
Mark Fricker ,
Monika Tlalka  and
Lynne Boddy
Edited by
Geoffrey Michael Gadd
Sarah Watkinson
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3RB, UK
Dan Bebber
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3RB, UK
Peter Darrah
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3RB, UK
Mark Fricker
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3RB, UK
Monika Tlalka
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3RB, UK
Lynne Boddy
Affiliation:
Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Main Building Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3TL, UK
Geoffrey Michael Gadd
Affiliation:
University of Dundee
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Summary

Introduction

The mycelium of woodland fungi can act both as a reservoir and as a distribution system for nutrients, owing to its physiological and developmental adaptations to life at the interface between organic and mineral soil horizons. The mobility of accumulated nitrogen and phosphorus within the mycelial networks of cord-forming wood decay fungi and ectomycorrhiza enables fungi to play key roles as wood decomposers and root symbionts. The dynamics of nitrogen movement have been less investigated than phosphorus owing to lack of a suitable tracer. We have developed a new technique for tracing nitrogen translocation in real time, using 14C as a marker for nitrogen by incorporating it into a non-decomposed amino acid that tracks the mycelial free amino acid pool. Its movement can be imaged by counting photon emissions from a scintillant screen in contact with the mycelial system. This method allows real-time imaging at high temporal and spatial resolution, for periods of weeks and areas up to 1 m2, in microcosms that mimic the mineral/organic soil interface of the forest floor. The results reveal a hitherto unsuspected dynamism and responsiveness in amino acid flows through mycelial networks of cord-forming, wood-decomposing basidiomycetes. We interpret these in the light of current understanding of the pivotal role of fungi in boreal and temperate forest floor nutrient cycling, and attempt to formulate key questions to investigate the effects of mycelial nitrogen translocation on forest floor decomposition and nitrogen absorption.

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Fungi in Biogeochemical Cycles , pp. 151 - 181
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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