Jolanta Behnke-Borowczyk, Hanna Kwaśna, Natalia Kartawik, Bartłomiej Sijka, Marta Bełka, Piotr Łakomy (2021). Effect of management on fungal communities in dead wood of Scots pine. Forest Ecology and Management 479, 118528.
Abundance of fungi and richness of fungal communities were studied in coarse wood debris of Scots pine in stands that were unmanaged or managed (by sanitary cutting, commercial thinning and timber harvesting) in an 85-year-old Scots pine forest in western Poland, in June 2014. Samples consisted of 20 × 20 × 20 cm pieces of logs, fallen branches and stumps, in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd decay classes. Fungal communities were analysed using high throughput Illumina MiSeq sequencing of fungal rDNA internal transcribed spacer. From a total of 80 076 OTUs from 34 samples, 58 436 (72.98%) were of culturable fungi and 21 640 (27.02%) were of non-culturable fungi and other organisms. Fungi from Glomeromycota, Zygomycota, Ascomycota and Basidiomycota were detected. In the unmanaged stand the frequency of Glomeromycota was 0–0.2%, of Zygomycota 0.01–0.29%, of Ascomycota 30.47–79.08%, of Basidiomycota 1.56–16.45%, and of non-culturable fungi 7.28–65.51%. In the managed stand the frequency of Glomeromycota was 0–0.12%, of Zygomycota 0.04–1.48%, of Ascomycota 52.25–68.33%, of Basidiomycota 8.01–18.05%, and of non-culturable fungi 10.54–26.09%. Fungal communities in coarse dead wood were shown to be huge complexes which include many previously undifferentiated taxa that often occupy specific ecological niches. Samples were colonized by at least 260 taxa of fungi. Fungi were most abundant and fungal communities most species-rich in the managed stand and in the initial stages of wood decay. Known wood-decay species were most abundant in the less decayed wood. Management practice influenced density and diversity of fungal communities in decayed wood. Illumina technology proved to be more effective in detection of fungi than analysis based on fungal morphology in culture or Sanger DNA sequencing.