Speleolog, Vol. 70 No. 1, 2022.
Stručni rad
Fungi in the underground
Leo Hrs
Sažetak
In some form, mushrooms can be found in very different habitats – in the depths of the ocean, in fresh water, in rocks, on human skin, other animals, plants, in drinks, in clouds, and in every breath we take there are 1 – 10 fungal spores, so we could say that it is impossible to find a place without them. According to the worldwide overview of cave fungi research, Croatia can be classified as one of the better researched parts of the world. Most fungal taxa recorded from caves are cosmopolitan, opportunistic saprotrophs associated with soil, plant material or insects. Underground fungi mainly function as parasites or decomposers of dead organic matter, although one often does not exclude the other. According to new research, it seems that the geographical history of caves is too short for the processes of fungal speciation, and, according to their results, the researched species evolved long before the speleological objects in which they were recorded were formed. Despite this, some species have never been recorded outside caves, and it seems that due to adaptations to various conditions in the environment, they have now remained tied to underground habitats and can no longer repopulate the areas they once inhabited. Some such fungal species could be considered threatened, as their survival depends on several sensitive habitats or host species. It is still necessary to carry out many studies of diversity, biology, ecology and evolution in order to get closer to the knowledge of the richness, complexity and entanglement of the mushroom kingdom, but one thing is unquestionable – fungi have an important and irreplaceable role in the functioning of all ecosystems.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
294910
URI
Datum izdavanja:
23.2.2023.
Posjeta: 821 *