Hypogeous fungal production in mature Douglas-fir forest fragments and surrounding plantations and its relation to coarse woody debris and animal mycophagy

Abstract

Production of hypogeous fungi (truffles) in high-elevation, 180-year-old mature forest fragments of Pseudotsugamenziesii (Mirb.) Franco was compared with surrounding regenerated clearcuts ranging from 4 to 27 years since harvest at two study areas. Thirty pairs of plots, one of each pair in soil, the other in brown-cubical-rotted coarse woody debris (CWD), were searched for truffles in each stand during four periods; August and November 1990, and February and May 1991. Overall analysis of presence/absence of truffles using log-linear models revealed that CWD and mature forest status of stands each significantly influence truffle occurrence. Mature forest fragments had greater percent frequency of occurrence and truffle number and dry weight than did plantations. Truffle numbers and dry weight were 30 and 20 times greater, respectively, in mature forests than in plantations. The plantations did not differ significantly among each other for any parameter. CWD yielded higher numbers and biomass of truffles than soil in the mature forest, but production in plantations did not differ between substrates. The total dry weight of truffles in CWD exceeded that in soil by more than 10 times in mature forests. Of 21 truffle species found, 13 were only in the mature forest and 8 only under coarse woody debris. Forest practices that emphasize the retention of mature trees and coarse woody debris promote the abundance and diversity of truffles, which are integral and functionally important members of forest ecosystems.