Successional Development of Fungal Communities Associated with Decomposing Deadwood in a Natural Mixed Temperate Forest

Abstract

Deadwood represents an important carbon stock and contributes to climate change mitigation. Wood decomposition is mainly driven by fungal communities. Their composition is known to change during decomposition, but it is unclear how environmental factors such as wood chemistry affect these successional patterns through their effects on dominant fungal taxa. We analysed the deadwood of Fagus sylvatica and Abies alba across a deadwood succession series of >40 years in a natural fir-beech forest in the Czech Republic to describe the successional changes in fungal communities, fungal abundance and enzymatic activities and to link these changes to environmental variables. The fungal communities showed high levels of spatial variability and beta diversity. In young deadwood, fungal communities showed higher similarity among tree species, and fungi were generally less abundant, less diverse and less active than in older deadwood. pH and the carbon to nitrogen ratio (C/N) were the best predictors of the fungal community composition, and they affected the abundance of half of the dominant fungal taxa. The relative abundance of most of the dominant taxa tended to increase with increasing pH or C/N, possibly indicating that acidification and atmospheric N deposition may shift the community composition towards species that are currently less dominant.

Fungal Community Development in Decomposing Fine Deadwood Is Largely Affected by Microclimate

“…Our experiment allowed us to analyze the FWD decomposition until the branches at certain locations disintegrated and thus it covered a large proportion of the FWD lifespan. The rapid decay progress was demonstrated by the increasing ergosterol content, deadwood moisture and wood pH decrease, both of which reflect the activity of fungal wood decomposers ( Baldrian et al, 2016 ; Lepinay et al, 2021a , b ; Přívětivý and Šamonil, 2021 ). The higher ergosterol contents and moisture of beech FWD suggest their faster decomposition, as already described for identical tree species ( Přívětivý et al, 2016 ; Kahl et al, 2017 ; Lepinay et al, 2021a ; Přívětivý and Šamonil, 2021 ).…”

“…The rapid decay progress was demonstrated by the increasing ergosterol content, deadwood moisture and wood pH decrease, both of which reflect the activity of fungal wood decomposers ( Baldrian et al, 2016 ; Lepinay et al, 2021a , b ; Přívětivý and Šamonil, 2021 ). The higher ergosterol contents and moisture of beech FWD suggest their faster decomposition, as already described for identical tree species ( Přívětivý et al, 2016 ; Kahl et al, 2017 ; Lepinay et al, 2021a ; Přívětivý and Šamonil, 2021 ). The tree specificity of deadwood moisture was previously described for A. abies and F. sylvatica ( Přívětivý and Šamonil, 2021 ).…”

“…These factors lead to different decomposition rates, organismic diversity and successive changes in the compositions and activities of wood decomposing fungal communities ( Kahl et al, 2017 ; Angst et al, 2019 ). pH and the carbon/nitrogen ratio are strong predictors of the fungal community composition affecting the abundance of dominant fungal taxa ( Lepinay et al, 2021a ), and their changes goes hand-in-hand with successional changes in fungal communities. Fungi with different morphological traits inhabit deadwood of different qualities, leading to the specialization of the fungal communities and organismic diversity of fungal colonizers ( Purhonen et al, 2020 ).…”

Exploring the Relationships between Macrofungi Diversity and Major Environmental Factors in Wunvfeng National Forest Park in Northeast China

“…The composition of EM is strongly influenced by the soil's nitrogen content [8,9], pH [10], temperature and moisture [11,12], the species composition of the host trees [13,14], and by the seasons [15]. Fungal communities living on the wood are closely dependent upon environmental factors, such as the amount, diameter, and stage of wood decomposition [16], wood chemistry [17], age [18], and tree species [19]. Factors influencing terricolous saprotrophic communities include litter quantity and pH [20], soil P content [21,22], plant species [23,24], and temperature [25].…”

Sheltering Role of Well-Decayed Conifer Logs for Forest Floor Fungi in Long-Term Polluted Boreal Forests

“…Fungi are among the principal decomposers and inhabitants of deadwood (Stokland et al, 2012). Until the latest stages of decay, the CWD fungal community is dominated by mycelial wood decomposers accompanied by fungicolous species and yeasts foraging on the products of wood degradation (Baldrian et al, 2016;Mäkipää et al, 2017;Lepinay et al, 2021). Root symbionts and endophytes, predatory fungi, as well as endoand ectosymbionts of saproxylic arthropods, are revealed in wood through the course of decomposition (Lindahl et al, 1999;Tedersoo et al, 2008;Fukasawa, 2012;Ottosson, 2013;Ottosson et al, 2015;Birkemoe et al, 2018).…”