Impact of Climate Change on Plant-Associated Fungi

Abstract

The global climate change can influence agricultural productivity by altering the plant-microbe interactions. Plant-associated fungi play important roles in these interactions by regulating nutrient transformation in soils, nutrient availability for plants and plant health and growth. The abiotic stressors that increase with the changing climate result in significant alterations in these processes. These alterations are either as a response to the changing biology of the plant or due to the direct effect of the stressors on the fungi. In this chapter we retrospect the current knowledge on the plant-associated fungi and discuss the effects of the changing climate on their interactions with their hosts. The goal of this review is to emphasize the need for more research on plant-fungal interactions that can increase the resilience of crops to climate change.