Long description:

Biodiversity of Fungi is essential for anyone collecting and/or monitoring any fungi. Fascinating and beautiful, fungi are vital components of nearly all ecosystems and impact human health and our economy in a myriad of ways. Standardized methods for documenting diversity and distribution have been lacking. A wealth of information, especially regrading sampling protocols, compiled by an international team of fungal biologists, make Biodiversity of Fungi an incredible and fundamental resource for the study of organismal biodiversity.

Chapters cover everything from what is a fungus, to maintaining and organizing a permanent study collection with associated databases; from protocols for sampling slime molds to insect associated fungi; from fungi growing on and in animals and plants to mushrooms and truffles. The chapters are arranged both ecologically and by sampling method rather than by taxonomic group for ease of use. The information presented here is intended for everyone interested in fungi, anyone who needs tools to study them in nature including naturalists, land managers, ecologists, mycologists, and even citizen scientists and sophiscated amateurs.

Table of Contents:

PART I: General Issues
1. Fungi and Their Allies
2. Preparation, Preservation, and Use of Fungal Specimens in Herbaria
3. Preservation and Distribution of Fungal Cultures
4. Electronic Information Resources
5. Fungal Biodiversity Patterns
6. Molecular Methods for Discriminating Taxa, Monitoring Species, and Assessing Fungal Diversity

PART IIA: Recommended Protocols for Sampling Particular Groups of Fungi: Direct Collecting and Isolation Protocols for Macrofungi and Mircofungi on Soil, Wood, Leaves, Lichens, and Other Substrata
7. Fungi on Living Plant Substrata, Including Fruits
8. Terrestrial and Lignicolous Macrofungi
9. Lichenized Fungi
10. Sequestrate Fungi

PART IIB: Recommended Protocols for Sampling Particular Groups of Fungi: Isolation Protocols for Readily Culturable Microfungi Associated with Plants
11. Microfungi on Wood and Plant Debris
12. Endophytic Fungi
13. Saprobic Soil Fungi
14. Fungi in Stressful Environments
15. Mutualistic Arbuscular Endomycorrhizal Fungi
16. Yeasts
17. Fungicolous Fungi

PART IIC: Recommended Protocols for Sampling Particular Groups of Fungi: Collecting and Isolation Protocols for Fungi Associated with Animals
18. Insect- and Other Arthropod-Associated Fungi
19. Fungal Parasites and Predators of Rotifers, Nematodes, and Other Invertebrates
20. Fungi Associated With Vertebrates
21. Coprophilous Fungi
22. Anaerobic Zoosporic Fungi Associated with Animals

PART IID: Recommended Protocols for Sampling Particular Groups of Fungi: Collecting and Isolation Protocols for Aquatic Fungi and for Protoctistans Formerly Treated as Fungi
23. Fungi in Freshwater Habitats
24. Marine and Estuarine Mycelial Eumycota and Oomycota
25. Mycetozoans
26. Fungi Associated with Aquatic Animals

PART III: Appendices, Glossary, Literature Cited, and Miscellaneous