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3 - Fungal roles in transport processes in soils

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 December 2009

By
Karl Ritz
Edited by
Geoffrey Michael Gadd
Karl Ritz
Affiliation:
National Soil Resources Institute, Cranfield University, UK
Geoffrey Michael Gadd
Affiliation:
University of Dundee
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Summary

Introduction

Fundamentally, biogeochemical cycling involves the transformation of compounds between various forms, and a movement of such compounds within and between compartments of the biosphere and geosphere. These processes operate across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales, from micrometres to kilometres, from seconds to centuries. In terrestrial systems, transformations and movement of materials below-ground are governed by the spatial organization of the soil system, and particularly the architecture of the pore network. This ‘inner space’ provides the physical framework in and through which the majority of soil-based processes occur. The labyrinthine nature of the pore network, and the exchange properties of associated surfaces, strongly modulates the transport of materials through the soil matrix. From a physicochemical perspective soil structure generally retards transport processes for two main reasons: the complex geometry of the pore network increases path lengths, both for diffusive and bulk-flow movement; and charged mineral and organic constituents in the soil act as exchange surfaces which bind transportable compounds to varying degrees. Transport processes may also be accelerated by structural properties, for example if solutes or particulates are carried via preferential and bypass-flow channels of water through macropores.

Soil organisms play a key role in driving terrestrial nutrient cycling, and play both direct and indirect roles in effecting and affecting transport processes. Fungi contribute a particularly wide range of functions relating to nutrient cycling.

Type
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Information
Fungi in Biogeochemical Cycles , pp. 51 - 73
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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