Biodiversity of Fungi - Inventory and Monitoring Methods

Hardback  728 pp  ISBN 0125095511      £62.95

Biodiversity of Fungi is essential for anyone collecting and/or monitoring any fungi. Fascinating and beautiful, fungi are vital components of nearly all ecosystems and impact human health and our economy in a myriad of ways. Standardized methods for documenting diversity and distribution have been lacking. An wealth of information, especially regrading sampling protocols, compiled by an international team of fungal biologists, make Biodiversity of Fungi an incredible and fundamental resource for the study of organismal biodiversity. Chapters cover everything from what is a fungus, to maintaining and organizing a permanent study collection with associated databases; from protocols for sampling slime molds to insect associated fungi; from fungi growing on and in animals and plants to mushrooms and truffles. The chapters are arranged both ecologically and by sampling method rather than by taxonomic group for ease of use. The information presented here is intended for everyone interested in fungi, anyone who needs tools to study them in nature including naturalists, land managers, ecologists, mycologists, and even citizen scientists and sophiscated amateurs.

Contents

Fungi and Their Allies
Preparation, Preservation, and Use of Fungal Specimens in Herbaria
Preservation and Distribution of Fungal Cultures
Electronic Information Resources
Analysis and Interpretation of Fungal Biodiversity Patterns
Molecular Methods for Discriminating Taxa, Monitoring Species, and Assessing Fungal Diversity
Fungi on Living Plant Substrata, Including Fruits
Measuring and Monitoring Diversity of Terrestrial and Lignicolous Macrofungi
Assessing the Biodiversity of Lichenized Fungi
Survey, Inventory, and Monitoring of Sequestrate Fungi
Microfungi on Wood and Plant Debris
Biodiversity of Endophytic Fungi
Saprobic Soil Fungi
Fungi in Stressful Environments
Measuring Biodiversity of Mutualistic Arbuscular Endomycorrhizal Fungi
Biodiversity of Yeasts
Fungicolous Fungi
The Search for Diversity of Insect and Other Arthropod-Associated Fungi
Fungal Parasites and Predators of Rotifers, Nematodes, and Other Invertebrates
Fungi Associated With Vertebrates
Coprophilous Fungi
Anaerobic Zoosporic Fungi Associated with Animals
Fungi in Freshwater Habitats
Marine and Estuarine Mycelial Eumycota and Oomycota
Sampling the Biodiversity of Mycetozoans
Fungi Associated with Aquatic Animals