THE ECOLOGY OF ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAS - A LOOK BACK INTO THE 20TH-CENTURY AND A PEEK INTO THE 21ST

Arbuscular mycorrhizal symbioses have been an integral part of terrest rial ecosystems since the invasion of land by plants. Studies on the d escriptions, phylogenetic relationships, and world-wide distributions date back to the late 1800s. By the 1950s, the basic systematic positi on of the fungi was known. By the early 1980s the underlying functions of AM were documented. During the last decade, most research has focu sed on detailing the varying forms that AM functions could take as the species compositions, environments and environment/species interactio ns varied. Research into the next century should begin to develop a be tter understanding of population genetics of the fungi and how those i nfluence phylogeny and ecological functioning, a better evaluation of the subtle changes in 'mycorrhizal functioning' given the large diverg ence in environmental and biological interactions, and the ability to link mycorrhizal dynamics into the changing global conditions.