Soils are significant reservoirs of carbon(C), and even slight changes in soil respiration have huge impact on the atmospheric CO2 concentrations. As the climate warms, also the soil respiration might increase due to enhanced microbial activity. However, the amount of C allocated to microbial growth might balance out the C lost in soil respiration, and actually the microbial remains contribute significantly to the soil C stocks. Amino sugars(AS) are used as indicators for dead microbial pool in soils since they are part of microbial cell walls. The contribution of fungal cell wall components to soil AS pool is important. Especially melanins, fungal cell wall compounds, contain rather significant amounts of AS, and the fungal hyphae melanin content affects the recalcitrance of the their necromass in soils. The main aim of my project is to find a linkage between native fungal community, especially soil fungal hyphae´s melanin content, and the recalcitrance of microbial remains in soil

2022

2026