Potential impacts of climate change on interactions among saprotrophic cord-forming fungal mycelia and grazing soil invertebrates

Climate change has the potential to alter the activity of, and interactions among, saprotrophic fungi and soil invertebrate grazers, with implications for decomposer community composition, ecosystem regulation and carbon feedback. We reviewed the impacts of experimentally manipulated temperature, CO2 concentration and soil moisture content on saprotrophic cord-forming basidiomycete growth and function, and on the abundance of soil micro-invertebrates (nematodes) and meso-invertebrates (collembola, mites and enchytraeids). In warmer and wetter conditions, mycelial growth and mycophagous invertebrate abundance are likely to increase. Grazers may either consume the extra mycelial biomass or amplify the temperature effect by stimulating fungal growth. Grazing can stimulate or inhibit decomposition of colonised woody resources and extracellular enzyme production. Future empirical study should partition saprotrophic fungi from the general microbial biomass, with particular attention focussed on enzyme activity and decomposition. Understanding how biotic and abiotic factors interact to regulate saprotrophic fungal activity is crucial to strengthen our predictive capacity regarding decomposition and carbon feedback under climate change. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd and The British Mycological Society. All rights reserved.