About       Team        Protocol         Github
   

MONITORING  STRATEGIES  FOR  AQUATIC  FUNGI  BIODIVERSITY




A person sampling sediment on an Arctic shore. 
Teppo Rämä/UiT The Arctic University of Norway




Human activities alter ecosystems and in most cases lead to biodiversity loss. Animals, plants and fungi are responsible for the processes and services the ecosystems provide. The loss of species threatens the ability of ecosystems to provide these services and to remain stable over time. 
Scientists have raised awareness of this threat for decades and in response, policy has established biomonitoring programs that help to assess change in ecosystem status and biodiversity over time and space. However, despite their importance for ecosystems, no monitoring program yet includes aquatic fungi, i.e. fungi living in freshwater and marine ecosystems. 

Aquatic fungi (AF) are crucial in ecosystems as resources for higher trophic levels, as parasites that control animal and plant populations, and as decomposers and pathogens that control carbon and nutrient cycling. AF thereby contribute to all four categories of ecosystem services: i) regulating services, like leaf litter decomposition and the self-cleaning capacity of ecosystems; ii) supporting services, like nutrient cycling and bioindicators of environmental conditions; iii) provisioning services, notably metabolites and clean water; and iv) cultural services, particularly educational and inspirational values. 

The new European project MoSTFun aims at reducing our knowledge gap on AF by adding these vital organisms to biodiversity monitoring programs. 

MoSTFun is one of the 33 projects funded in the Biodiversa+ and the European Union joint call for projects in 2022 on “Improved transnational monitoring of biodiversity and ecosystem change for science and society” (BiodivMon). Biodiversa+ is the European Biodiversity Partnership supporting excellent research on biodiversity with an impact for society and policy. This call represents a financial commitment of more than 46 million Euro from the participating countries and co-funding from the European Commission.
Follow us
@mostfun.eu
/mostfun.eu



A project


Funded by



  MoSTFun © 2025 • All Rights ReservedDesign • Max Fonseca, Istituto design - SUPSI