Understanding mechanisms of soil biota involvement in soil aggregation: A way forward with saprobic fungi?

Abstract

Soil aggregation is a key ecosystem process that strongly affects soil structure. Soil structure is the three dimensional arrangement of primary particles, organic matter, soil aggregates and associated pores. As such, soil aggregation influences the organization of soil biodiversity and soil-borne biogeochemical processes. Saprobic fungi (SF) have promising but largely untapped potential to offer new perspectives and insights into mechanisms of soil aggregation. The study of SF permits identification of traits that may predict soil aggregation component processes: formation, stabilization and disintegration. The measurement of fungal key traits in experiments aimed at soil aggregation effects will generate data necessary for mechanistic understanding. When such efforts are combined with collecting such information across a range of systems in curated databases this can, by channeling efforts, lead to a step change in our understanding and modeling of organism-mediated soil aggregation mechanisms and changes in functional diversity due to global change.