As the litter decomposes due to microbial activity, its
chemical makeup is altered which in turn selects the species
of microbes (including fungi) that are adapted to occupy this
progressively decaying and dynamic substratum. This continues
until decomposition is complete, and entails a succession
of fungal species on litter which are arbitrarily
classified as early, intermediate and late colonizers (Frankland
1998; Dickie et al. 2012).