| Popis: |
After reviewing the limits of the current approaches, we introduce an analytical framework for up-scaling analyses of ecological processes. The framework attempts to produce a conceptual unification and leads to a ten-step approach for up-scaling from a source to a target scale. The literature on ectomycorrhizal fungi is then screened following each up-scaling step. We conclude that one needs to construct four (pseudo) hierarchical levels in order to understand the ecological role of ectomycorrhizal fungi in the ecological productivity of ecosystems (scale of 104-105 m2) and one more level, if one is interested in evolutionary processes such as gene flow or speciation. The modularization scales for understanding the role of ectomycorrhizal fungi are those applicable to bacteria (10-6-10-4 m2), fungi (functional dynamic modules occupying surfaces of tenths of m2, and a tree plot of 400–900m2), epigeous fungivorous invertebrates and mammals (104-106 m2), and, for speciation, to small catchments of several hundreds of km2. The analyses showed that the source for up-scaling has to be a plot of 400–900m2. This plot has an associated homomorphic model with a maximum number of nine functional dynamic modules for the structural and functional modeling of ectomycorrhizal communities. Only one modeling step is needed for up-scaling from the source scale (plot) to the ecosystem scale, but the model’s construction involves the previous construction of several up- and down-scaling models in order to quantify the effects of smaller- and larger scale organisms on fungi. The existing knowledge limits the up-scaling of processes, especially with respect to the available mathematical models, which in turn are limited by the data required. |
