Functional Traits of Stipitate Basidiomycetes

Functional traits are widely recognized as a useful framework for testing mechanisms underlying species community assemblage patterns and ecosystem processes. While botanists have developed this field during the past 20 years, mycology still needs to catch up. Only during recent years, ecological research has begun to recognize the fundamental role of fungi in virtually all ecosystems. For this role, the mechanistic background needs to be uncovered, which is tightly intertwined with fungal functional traits. These traits are of morphological, physiological, and behavioral nature. In this article, current knowledge is presented, and gaps to be closed are analyzed.