Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Editors' Preface
- Isotopic-labelling methods for deciphering the function of uncultured micro-organisms
- Biofilms and metal geochemistry: the relevance of micro-organism-induced geochemical transformations
- Minerals, mats, pearls and veils: themes and variations in giant sulfur bacteria
- Soil micro-organisms in Antarctic dry valleys: resource supply and utilization
- New insights into bacterial cell-wall structure and physico-chemistry: implications for interactions with metal ions and minerals
- Horizontal gene transfer of metal homeostasis genes and its role in microbial communities of the deep terrestrial subsurface
- Biosilicification: the role of cyanobacteria in silica sinter deposition
- Metabolic diversity in the microbial world: relevance to exobiology
- Biogeochemical cycling in polar, temperate and tropical coastal zones: similarities and differences
- Fungal roles and function in rock, mineral and soil transformations
- The deep intraterrestrial biosphere
- Iron, nitrogen, phosphorus and zinc cycling and consequences for primary productivity in the oceans
- Mechanisms and environmental impact of microbial metal reduction
- New insights into the physiology and regulation of the anaerobic oxidation of methane
- Biogeochemical roles of fungi in marine and estuarine habitats
- Role of micro-organisms in karstification
- Index
Biogeochemical roles of fungi in marine and estuarine habitats
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 July 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Editors' Preface
- Isotopic-labelling methods for deciphering the function of uncultured micro-organisms
- Biofilms and metal geochemistry: the relevance of micro-organism-induced geochemical transformations
- Minerals, mats, pearls and veils: themes and variations in giant sulfur bacteria
- Soil micro-organisms in Antarctic dry valleys: resource supply and utilization
- New insights into bacterial cell-wall structure and physico-chemistry: implications for interactions with metal ions and minerals
- Horizontal gene transfer of metal homeostasis genes and its role in microbial communities of the deep terrestrial subsurface
- Biosilicification: the role of cyanobacteria in silica sinter deposition
- Metabolic diversity in the microbial world: relevance to exobiology
- Biogeochemical cycling in polar, temperate and tropical coastal zones: similarities and differences
- Fungal roles and function in rock, mineral and soil transformations
- The deep intraterrestrial biosphere
- Iron, nitrogen, phosphorus and zinc cycling and consequences for primary productivity in the oceans
- Mechanisms and environmental impact of microbial metal reduction
- New insights into the physiology and regulation of the anaerobic oxidation of methane
- Biogeochemical roles of fungi in marine and estuarine habitats
- Role of micro-organisms in karstification
- Index
Summary
INTRODUCTION
A fungal component of the marine biota was only recognized as recently as 1944 (Barghoorn & Linder, 1944), and it was not until the 1960s that studies commenced to assess the extent and diversity of fungi in marine systems. Since this time, considerable effort has been exerted to uncover marine fungal diversity, with high decadal discovery indices in the 1970s and 80s (Hawksworth, 1991), resulting in around 1000 fungal species known today from marine environments. Nevertheless, it is hardly surprising that, with the extent of marine environments globally, we probably have a very incomplete view of fungal diversity, together with their frequency and function in these ecosystems. The objective of this review is to assess the extent of our present knowledge and to highlight future directions to further elucidate their biology and ecology.
THE NATURE OF MARINE ENVIRONMENTS
Marine ecosystems are globally extensive, and account for around 70 % of global surface area. They can be defined generally as aquatic systems influenced by substantial concentrations of salts, particularly sodium chloride, from existing oceanic systems. Seas and oceans divide between regions bordering and influenced by terrestrial regions and the open ocean, which is strongly zoned through the water column. These broad boundaries are illustrated in Fig. 1, which also details linkages between marine compartments.
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- Micro-organisms and Earth Systems , pp. 321 - 344Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005
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