The Quirky Rot Fungi: Underexploited Potential for Soil Remediation and Rehabilitation
Source abstract
Abstract
Currently, when the role of biodiversity in maintaining and restoring ecosystems is widely discussed, rot fungi are far from being integrated into common policies, conservation laws, or risk assessment frameworks. Despite the widespread recognition of the natural role of rot fungi as decomposers and their capabilities for various industrial purposes (the treatment of effluents rich in organic or inorganic substances), their peculiar characteristics are poorly understood and investigated. Highlighting the potential of rot fungi is of paramount importance because, as natural resources, rot fungi align perfectly with soil sustainability and the green growth policies and strategies outlined in this decade by the European Commission (2021) and United Nations (2021). This short piece aims to highlight and encourage efforts that channel into the exploration of this group of organisms as bioinoculants and biofertilizers for agriculture and forestry, as remediators and rehabilitators of soils affected by anthropogenic contamination (e.g., metals, agrochemicals, and plastics), and devastated by phenomena arising from climate change (e.g., forest fires) by briefly presenting the pros and cons of each of these lines of action and how rot fungi characteristics may fill in the current knowledge gap on degraded soil rehabilitation.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Plant Pathogens and Fungal Diseases · Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plant Interactions · Plant-Microbe Interactions and Immunity
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) and Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Funding
CESAM · LabEx DRIIHM—Dispositif de Recherche Interdisciplinaire sur les Interactions Hommes-Milieux · OHMI—Observatoire Hommes-Millieux International Estarreja
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