Independent effects of host and environment on the diversity of wood‐inhabiting fungi

Abstract

Dead wood is a habitat for numerous fungal species, many of which are important agents of decomposition. Previous studies suggested that wood‐inhabiting fungal communities are affected by climate, availability of dead wood in the surrounding landscape and characteristics of the colonized dead‐wood object (e.g. host tree species). These findings indicate that different filters structure fungal communities at different scales, but how these factors individually drive fungal fruiting diversity on dead‐wood objects is unknown. We conducted an orthogonal experiment comprising 180 plots (0.1 ha) in a random block design and measured fungal fruit body richness and community composition on 720 dead‐wood objects over the first 4 years of succession. The experiment allowed us to disentangle the effects of the host (beech and fir; logs and branches) and the environment (microclimate: sunny and shady plots; local dead wood: amount and heterogeneity of dead wood added to plot). Variance partitioning revealed that the host was more important than the environment for the diversity of wood‐inhabiting fungi. A more detailed model revealed that host tree species had the highest independent effect on richness and community composition of fruiting species of fungi. Host size had significant but low independent effects on richness and community composition of fruiting species. Canopy openness significantly affected the community composition of fruiting species. By contrast, neither local amount nor heterogeneity of dead wood significantly affected the fungal diversity measures. Synthesis. Our study identified host tree species as a more important driver of the diversity of wood‐inhabiting fungi than the environment, which suggests a host‐centred filter of this diversity in the early phase of the decomposition process. For the conservation of wood‐inhabiting fungi, a high variety of host species in various microclimates is more important than the availability of dead wood at the stand level.

Biodiversity along temperate forest succession

“…However, we found that although the amount of dead wood was high on our study plots in early stages of forest succession (Supporting Information Figure S11), this was not reflected in the number of species of wood-decaying (saproxylic) fungi. This is consistent with the more detailed analyses of Krah et al (2018), which show that the mere amount of dead wood is a relatively poor predictor of the number of these fungal species. The number of fungal species might be driven more strongly by the host tree species, host size, dieback history, and canopy openness than by the amount and heterogeneity of dead wood (Abrego & Salcedo, 2013;Heilmann-Clausen et al, 2015;Krah et al, 2018).…”

“…(), which show that the mere amount of dead wood is a relatively poor predictor of the number of these fungal species. The number of fungal species might be driven more strongly by the host tree species, host size, dieback history, and canopy openness than by the amount and heterogeneity of dead wood (Abrego & Salcedo, ; Heilmann‐Clausen et al., ; Krah et al., ).…”

Handbook for the measurement of macrofungal functional traits: A start with basidiomycete wood fungi

“…Fungi can be strongly affected by microsite conditions, as shown by some studies (e.g., Krah et al, , Pouska, Macek, & Zíbarová, ), and others which are still hypothesized to affect fungi. While we cannot cover all microsite conditions or their measurement methodology here, it is important to be aware of their effect and, where possible, measure those relevant to study questions.…”

“…Fungi can be strongly affected by microsite conditions, as shown by some studies (e.g., Krah et al, 2018, Pouska, Macek, & Zíbarová, 2017, and others which are still hypothesized to affect fungi.…”

„The forgotten kingdom“ im Naturschutz

“…Bisherige Studien konnten allerdings die Effekte von Totholzmenge und Mikroklima auf die Holzpilzdiversität nicht vollständig aufklären, da beide Einflussfaktoren in Wäldern miteinander stark korreliert sind. Ein experimenteller Ansatz im Nationalpark hat gezeigt, dass das Mikroklima, unabhängig von der Totholzmenge, eine wichtige Steuergröße für die Zusammensetzung von Artengemeinschaften ist . Des Weiteren wurde in zwei unabhängigen Experimenten belegt, dass der bestimmende Faktor der Pilzartengemeinschaften die Baumart ist .…”