Authors: Olga E Marfenina Anna E Ivanova Elena E Kislova Dmitry S Sacharov
Publish Date: 2008/09/09
Volume: 8, Issue: 5, Pages: 340-348
Abstract
The mycological properties of soil can offer information about ancient human–landscape interaction including urbanization This preposition has been confirmed in our study of the habitation deposits in the medieval Russian settlements eighth to fourteenth centuries ADThe mycobiota of profiles of anthropogenically transformed soil of excavated medieval settlements were examined in different climate conditions in the European part of Russia The fungal biomass and biomass structure were evaluated using luminescent microscopy The isolation and enumeration of microfungi were performed using the method of serial dilutions of soil samples and plating them out on the number of solid media The isolation of keratinolytic microfungi was performed by hearbite techniqueIt was established that in ancient urban soils the mycobiota may have properties different from those of zone fungal communities The examined cultural layers of ancient settlements differ from the horizons of the surrounding natural soils because of a bigger rate of fungal spores in fungal biomass more mosaic distribution of microfungal communities different species composition and dominant microfungal species increased incidence of some ecological and trophic fungal groups for example keratinophilic potentially pathogenic microfungi
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