What roles do fungi play in soils? What will be an ideal ...

[OSWALD]

What roles do fungi play in soils?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

What would fungi indicate about the type(s) of plants growing in the area?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

[C.mcnichol98]

Answer to Question 1

Fungi are primarily decomposers involved in the breakdown of organic material in
the soil. Fungi assist in the release of nutrients from soil detritus. Some fungi also
assist plants in the uptake of nutrients in areas with poor soil (mycorrhizal fungi).

Answer to Question 2

Some forest trees only grow in association with special fungi called mycorrhizae.
The truffles associated with roots of some trees in France are an example of
mycorrhizal fungi. Many trees in the western United States and Canada have
mycorrhizal associations. Large amounts of fungi in the soil would tend to suggest a
large amount of organic matter that is in the process of decomposing in the topsoil
and/or a mycorrhizal association with one of the plant species growing in the area.