Dispersal of mycorrhizal fungi via animals and the importance for the interacting partners' life history as well as for ecosystems is an understudied topic. In this review, we describe the available evidence and the most important knowledge gaps and finally suggest ways to gain the missing information. So far, 33 articles have been published proving a successful transfer of mycorrhizal propagules by animals. The vast majority of research on invertebrates was focused on arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, whereas papers on vertebrates (mainly rodents and artiodactyls) equally addressed ectomycorrhizal (ECM) and AM fungi. Effective dispersal has been mostly shown by the successful inoculation of bait plants and less commonly by spore staining or germination tests. Based on the available data and general knowledge on animal lifestyles, collembolans and oribatid mites may be important in transporting ECM fungal propagules by ectozoochory, whereas earthworms, isopods, and millipedes could mainly transfer AM fungal spores in their gut systems. ECM fungal distribution may be affected by mycophagous dipterans and their hymenopteran parasitoids, while slugs, snails, and beetles could transport both mycorrhizal groups. Vertebrates feeding on fruit bodies were shown to disperse mainly ECM fungi, while AM fungi are transported mostly accidentally by herbivores. The important knowledge gaps include insufficient information on dispersal of fungal propagules other than spores, the role of invertebrates in the dispersal of mycorrhizal fungi, the way in which propagules pass through food webs, and the spatial distances reached by different dispersal mechanisms both horizontally and vertically.

Biotechnical Faculty University of Ljubljana Jamnikarjeva 101 1000 Ljubljana Slovenia

Centre for Agricultural Research Hungarian Academy of Sciences Herman Ottó str 15 Budapest 1022 Hungary

Department of Biology and Ecology Faculty of Science University of Ostrava Chittussiho 10 71000 Ostrava Czech Republic

Department of Biology University of Copenhagen Copenhagen Denmark

Department of Biology University of Osijek Cara Hadrijana 8a Osijek Croatia

Department of Botany Faculty of Science University of South Bohemia Branišovská 31 37005 České Budějovice Czech Republic

Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences Faculty of Science Palacký University Olomouc Šlechtitelů 27 77900 Olomouc Czech Republic

Department of Ecology Institute for Biology University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest Rottenbiller str 50 Budapest 1077 Hungary

Department of Soil Microbiology and Symbiotic Systems Estación Experimental del Zaidín CSIC Profesor Albareda 1 18008 Granada Spain

Department of Zoology and Animal Ecology Szent István University Páter Károly u 1 Gödöllö Hungary

Faculty of Mathematics Natural Sciences and Information Technologies University of Primorska Glagoljaška 8 6000 Koper Slovenia

Global Change Research Institute Czech Academy of Sciences Lipová 1789 9 37005 České Budějovice Czech Republic

Insect Ecology Laboratory Department of Forest Entomology Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute 1 Matsunosato Tsukuba Ibaraki 305 8687 Japan

Institute of Botany Faculty of Biology Jagiellonian University in Kraków Gronostajowa 3 30 387 Kraków Poland

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