FUNGAL COMPETITION

Competition among fungal species isolated from a variety of habitats and substrates has been demonstrated frequently with laboratory studies. In some competitive interactions in culture, production of antifungal antibiotics by antagonistic fungi has been reported. Less well known is the extent to which competitive interactions occur in fungal communities in nature, the importance of competition in determining fungal community structure, and whether antifungal antibiotics are important in such interactions. Most field studies of fungal communities have been descriptive. Although such studies provide evidence of pattern in community structure, they do not demonstrate the occurrence of competition. Recent experimental field studies, in which the proportions of interacting fungal species were manipulated, provide more compelling evidence that interspecific competition does occur in nature. Knowledge about the extent of fungal competition in nature and its role in structuring fungal communities would be greatly improved if more of the following kinds of studies were undertaken: (i) experimental field studies involving manipulations of fungal species in a variety of habitats, (ii) comparative field and laboratory studies of the same fungal species, (iii) experimental field studies involving more than two fungal species, (iv) experimental and comparative studies throughout a range of environmental conditions, and (v) field experiments using both antibiotic- and nonantibiotic-producing fungal strains and (or) species.