ECTOMYCORRHIZAL FUNGI IN A PANNONIAN SANDY FOREST STEPPE LANDSCAPE: A COMPARISON OF OPEN AND CLOSED GRASSLANDS AND POPLAR WOODLANDS

Abstract

Ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi are among the most diverse and dominant fungal groups in temperate ecosystems. In Pannonian biogeographic region, they are most diverse and abundant in forest ecosystems. Nonetheless, they constitute an ecologically important and little-studied group of organisms in steppe ecosystems with woody plants, where they likely play crucial roles in the water and nutrient supply of their hosts. The forest steppe vegetation in central Hungary is a mosaic of open grassland communities on sand dunes, closed interdune grasslands