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The Marine Environment and the Role of Fungi

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Fungi in Coastal and Oceanic Marine Ecosystems

Abstract

Marine ecological processes are determined by the physical and chemical properties of seawater. The marine environment is divided into various zones, depending upon the proximity to land and the depth of the water column. Microorganisms play an important role among members of the marine trophic pyramid, comprising photosynthetic primary producers, herbivores, and consumers. Net primary production from the oceans almost equals that from terrestrial plants. The highly productive coastal ecosystem comprises the estuaries, pelagic, mangroves, salt marshes, seagrasses, coral reefs, and algal beds. Phytoplankton, macroalgae, and vascular plants are the primary producers in coastal waters. Phytoplankton alone fulfil this role in oceanic waters. The “biological pump” is crucial in transporting nutrients from the euphotic zone to the deep sea. Fungi occur as symbionts (commensals, mutualists, and parasites) in living marine organisms or as saprotrophs in dead organisms. Saprotrophic fungi use a variety of ecological strategies. Their decompositional activities make detritus more palatable to detritivores. About 500 species of obligately marine mycetaen fungi occur exclusively in the sea. All members of Labyrinthulomycetes and most marine Oomycetes are obligately marine. About 130 species of these are known. A large diversity of facultative marine fungi, which are terrestrial species of mycetaen fungi, are active in the marine environment. Our knowledge of the diversity of fungi in the oceans is rudimentary.

How inappropriate to call this planet Earth, When it is quite clearly Ocean…

Arthur C. Clarke

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Formerly of CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Vainguinnim Valley, Dona Paula, Goa, India

    Seshagiri Raghukumar

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Raghukumar, S. (2017). The Marine Environment and the Role of Fungi. In: Fungi in Coastal and Oceanic Marine Ecosystems. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54304-8_2

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