Näsholm, Torgny
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Research article2020Peer reviewed
Adamczyk, Sylwia; Larmola, Tuula; Peltoniemi, Krista; Laiho, Raija; Nasholm, Torgny; Adamczyk, Bartosz
Peatlands store a significant carbon (C) pool but global warming promotes growth of woody plants, which may affect the C balance of peatlands. As shrubs and trees form symbioses with mycorrhizal fungi, which are potentially effective decomposers of recalcitrant organic matter, suitable tools to measure fungal biomass, necromass and turnover rates are needed. Here we present a method optimized for studying chitin, a marker of living and dead fungal mass in peatland ecosystems. Optimizations include enhancement of purification steps, which enabled measurements of chitin concentration from both peat and from mycorrhizal mycelia in ingrowth bags with quartz sand. Adjustments proposed here will enable studying the role of fungi in peatland ecosystems.
Chitin; Fungal necromass and biomass; Fungi; Peatlands
Soil Biology and Biochemistry
2020, Volume: 149, article number: 107932Publisher: PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
Soil Science
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2020.107932
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/107860