Fungal loop hypothesis

Hypothesis about soil fungi

The fungal loop hypothesis suggests that soil fungi in arid ecosystems connect the metabolic activity of plants and biological soil crusts which respond to different soil moisture levels. Compiling diverse evidence such as limited accumulation of soil organic matter, high phenol oxidative and proteolytic enzyme potentials due to microbial activity, and symbioses between plants and fungi, the fungal loop hypothesis suggests that carbon and nutrients are cycled in biotic pools rather than leached or effluxed to the atmosphere during and between pulses of precipitation.

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