Contribution of Fungal Macromolecules to Soil Carbon Sequestration

Abstract

Saprotrophic fungi are key moderators in the global carbon cycle because of their ability to degrade the three most abundant biopolymers: cellulose, lignin, and chitin. Fungi are a signifi cant contributor to soil microbial biomass but little is known about the contributions of fungal biomass to diagenetically altered soil organic carbon. Here we show that a portion of fungal necromass is resistant to decay by a natural soil microbial community over a month-long degradation study. The results of FTIR analysis indicate that this resistant portion is likely composed mainly of fungal chitin.