ABSTRACT
Fungi are essential for nutrient mobilization, storage, and release during decomposition of plant material in terrestrial ecosystems. Saprophytic microfungi are the least visible group of fungi in soil but are, nevertheless, key decomposers of the massive amounts of leaves, stalks, and other plant parts deposited on and in the ground each year. Because of their hyphal growth pattern, production of vegetative spores, specific survival strategies, and capacity to produce a variety of enzymes important in decomposition processes, these fungi are ubiquitous and respond rapidly to the addition of new substrates.
