Fungal Ecology

"Secondary Metabolites in Soil Ecology" focus on the role of bacterial, fungal and plant secondary metabolites in soil ecosystems. Our understanding of the biological function of secondary metabolites is surprisingly limited, considering our knowledge of their structural diversity and pharmaceutically relevant activities. The volume reviews functional aspects of secondary metabolite production, with a focus on interactions among soil organisms.

Topics such as truffle metabolites and burnt phenomenon, ecology of mycotoxins in soil, root exudates, and chemical interactions between Streptomyces and mycorrhiza fungi are treated. Further aspects are the role of microbial metabolites as quorum sensing signals, their role in protecting plants against pathogens and the effect of volatiles on soil invertebrates. Chapters describing techniques for the detection of antibiotics in soil and the application of metabolomics to rhizosphere research, which has advanced rapidly in recent years, complement the book.

This volume offers extensive information on insect life in dying and dead wood. Written and reviewed by leading experts from around the world, the twenty-five chapters included here provide the most global coverage possible and specifically address less-studied taxa and topics. An overarching goal of this work is to unite literature that has become fragmented along taxonomic and geographic lines. A particular effort was made to recognize the dominant roles that social insects (e.g., termites, ants and passalid beetles) play in saproxylic assemblages in many parts of the world without overlooking the non-social members of these communities.

This volume offers extensive information on insect life in dying and dead wood. Written and reviewed by leading experts from around the world, the twenty-five chapters included here provide the most global coverage possible and specifically address less-studied taxa and topics. An overarching goal of this work is to unite literature that has become fragmented along taxonomic and geographic lines. A particular effort was made to recognize the dominant roles that social insects (e.g., termites, ants and passalid beetles) play in saproxylic assemblages in many parts of the world without overlooking the non-social members of these communities.