Life in leaf litter: Fungal community succession during decomposition

Leaf litter decomposition plays a vital role in the nutrient budget of forest ecosystems. Fungal communities colonising leaf litter are “key players” in decomposition and nutrient recycling, because of their ability to produce a wide range of extracellular enzymes that facilitate breakdown of leaf litter. Fungal colonization of decomposing leaf litter is a sequential process during which fungal communities tend to change both quantitatively and qualitatively. Most previous studies on fungal succession have taken synecological approaches, recording fungal species assemblages at different stages of decomposition in various plant species. This paper brings together various studies on leaf litter decomposition, fungal succession of leaf litter including study methods, succession stages, controlling factors, limitations and future perspectives. We discuss high throughput methods as emerging complementary approaches to better understand species diversity and community dynamics. We propose the importance of current approaches combining morphological and molecular data in fungal succession studies. Nevertheless, there are still opportunities for further breakthroughs in this area as few research groups have applied these techniques to fungal succession experiments.