ABSTRACT
Previous chapters in this book have gone into some detail about the role that fungi play in specific ecosystems and in ecosystem processes in general. In Chap. 6 we encountered a number of anthropogenic impacts on ecosystems and saw how they have affected the fungal community and also how the fungi have been instrumental in moderating the effects of the perturbations on other organisms and processes. The intent of this final chapter is to step back and take a much broader and to some extent more philosophical and conceptual approach to the detail that has come before. In this chapter I will outline some areas that I believe warrant further investigation.
