Hello bdnow, The CSIRO in Australia have several collections of research papers dedicated to the study of Soil biota and you can find them at www.csiro.au Another text, recommended at the SFI web site, so I bought a copy of it before the AUS $ dived to banana republic levels is: Principles and Applications of Soil Microbiology ISBN 0-13-459991-8 Elaine contributes a chapter on protozoa and nematodes but of interest to the question about refereed scientific publications on activities of mycorrhizal fungi and their symbiotic relationships with plants is David Sylvia chapter Mycorrhizal Symbioses. He quotes studies that stated that though "fungal hyphae accounted for less than 20% of total nutrient absorbing surface mass they contributed nearly 80% of the absorbing surface area of pine seedlings" In addition three mechanisms are proposed for the release of bound phosphorus from soils, -replace phosphorus sorbed at metal hydroxide surfaces through ligand exchange reactions -dissolve metal oxide surfaces that sorb phosphorus -complex metals in solution and thus prevent precipitation of metal phosphates. You may need a dictionary of scientific terms to follow these ideas, I did! Important to realise that the plant and soil biota see the soil as a solution ie a liquid not a solid. There is a lot of info out there bound up in esoteric Government and University departments and libraries, I suspect that an e-mail to the SFI [EMAIL PROTECTED] would point you most quickly to good references.
-- Best regards, John mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
