Abstract
Aquatic hyphomycetes are an ecological group of fungi that play a crucial role in the decomposition of plant litter and in the food webs of streams and rivers. Changes in stream ecosystem functioning (e.g. due to human impacts) can be accompanied by shifts in litter-associated fungal community structure. This chapter presents a key for the identification of the common species of aquatic hyphomycetes found in streams in temperate climates. Since most spores of aquatic hyphomycetes are characteristically shaped, the presented dichotomous key is based mostly on the morphology of detached spores (conidia) that can be sampled from water or obtained by inducing fungal sporulation on plant litter in the laboratory. In a few cases, details of conidiogenesis that aid in identification are also discussed. Each of the 64 species included in the key is illustrated by line drawings; in addition, microphotographs are provided for some species. A glossary of terms that may cause difficulties follows the key. The presented key facilitates ecological studies on fungal biodiversity and its link with functional aspects of streamecosystems such as fungal production and leaf litter decomposition.
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Gulis, V., Marvanová, L., Descals, E. (2020). An Illustrated Key to the Common Temperate Species of Aquatic Hyphomycetes. In: Bärlocher, F., Gessner, M., Graça, M. (eds) Methods to Study Litter Decomposition. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30515-4_25
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30515-4_25
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