Wood-inhabiting macromycete communities in spruce stands on former agricultural land

Abstract

Wood-inhabiting macromycete (WIM) communities in the ecosystem of uneven-aged spruce stands growing on former agricultural land were investigated in relation to the supply of wood substrate, degree of wood rot, and selected climatic and ecological conditions. Altogether, 58 WIM species were detected at research plots during 2016–2018. The abundance of fruiting bodies and WIM species richness increased from the youngest to the oldest forest stands. The highest numbers of fruiting body abundance were recorded for Gymnopus perforans (11 756), Hypholoma fasciculare (2 971), Coprinellus disseminatus (326), Exidia pithya (318) and Panellus mitis (147). The influence of stand age on WIM abundance was highly significant (P < 0.001), WIM abundance was not affected by precipitation (P > 0.05). The relationships between abundance and air temperature (P < 0.001), species richness and precipitation (P < 0.001), species richness and air temperature (P < 0.001) were highly significant. The most frequent damage to trees was caused by insects and forest animals (81%), which resulted in a high occurrence of resin secretion (70%). The total volume of coarse wood debris (CWD) and the decay rate were not statistically dependent. We confirmed the occurrence of Heterobasidion annosum s.s., H. abietinum s.s., H. parviporum s.s., Armillaria ostoyae s.s. and A. cepistipes s.s. by use of molecular genetic analyses.