The last decade has been one of increasing awareness that fungi, even within specific guilds (e.g., pathogens, mycorrhizal fungi, saprotrophs), differ widely in their morphology and life-history. There are now many research groups aiming at describing trait syndromes and life-history strategies, as fungal traits have implications for ecosystem functioning and global change. In the last 2-3 years, there have been major papers evaluating fungal strategies, gathering databases on fungal traits, and presenting opinion pieces about ways to move forward in fungal ecophysiology. There is thus a great opportunity to take advantage of ESA's conference to gather fungal ecologists and feed further discussion on fungal traits and life-history strategies. Only through collaborative thinking and work will we develop the right research agenda to catch-up with the major trait-based work that has been done in plant ecophysiology and community ecology in the last 60 years.