ENTOMOPATHOGENIC FUNGI OF GRASSLANDS AND PEATLANDSIN THE MODERATE AND SEVERE CLIMATIC CONDITIONS S. Balazy, L.W. Szajdak

  Institute for Agricultural and Forest Environment, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznan, Poland,

balazy@man.poznan.pl, szajlech@man.poznan.pl

Despite almost 200 years’ investigations aimed at recognition of the diversity and significance of the fungi pathogenic to insects and other arthropods, only some agricultural and managed forest areas have so far been more intensively explored in this respect, though very unevenly in particular regions and countries.

The scarcest data come from polar and subpolar regions, high mountains and deserts. According to the investigations in several European countries (Germany, England, France, Poland) the swamps and peatlands keep buried relatively rich teams of entomopathogenic fungi, that differ conspicuously from those of arable land and managed forests, with significant participation of transitional species from groups capable to infect both arthropods and lower invertebrates - grouped in so called “non-entomopathogenic entomophthorales”, but also among clavicipitalean anamorphs. It should be very interesting to extend more precise studies on the local and big peatland areas within a separate research project, in order to recognize possible environmental and trophic links between the invertebrates and their fungal pathogens in these peculiar sites under severe climate conditions. I would like do declare my participation in such research.