A review on frequently occurring fungi in mangroves

Recent studies on intertidal mangrove fungi have provided information on (a ) frequency of occurrence, (b) vertical zonation, (c) host and substratum s pecificity, (d) succession, and (e) seasonal occurrence. Importance has bee n given to frequency of occurrence in many of these investigations, As with many other organisms, only a few fungi predominate on a given substratum o r in a given habitat. A synopsis of frequently occurring fungi in mangroves is presented based on the literature. Although a 'core' group of fungi can be recognised from mangroves at different geographic locations, the very f requent fungi seem to differ from one site to another. The very frequent fu ngi however, overlap between the Pacific and Indian oceans. No data however , is available on the frequency of occurrence of mangrove fungi from the At lantic Ocean. The number of samples examined, the dominance of the host spe cies in the study site (availability of substrata), host specificity, verti cal distribution, tissue and organ preference, temperature, salinity, succe ssion and seasonality, appear to be some of the factors that may influence fungal communities. These factors are discussed with suggestions for method ology and future studies are made. A table, providing a synopsis of frequen tly occurring fungi in mangroves is also presented.