Biodiversity of yeasts and filamentous microfungi in terrestrial Antarctic ecosystems

Abstract

Fungal biodiversity in Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems increases with the availability of water and energy, but cannot now be precisely described because of problems with identification and questions us to what organisms are truly indigenous. Yeasts probably predominate on continental Antarctica, while other microfungi usually do so in maritime and sub-Antarctica. Lists of nematophagous species and of microfungal species reported from maritime and sub-Antarctica are given. The ecological roles of these fungi are worthy of further research. The ability of common airspora and pathogens to survive and colonize should be investigated.