Diversity and distribution of aphyllophoroid fungi growing on Common Juniper (Juniperus communis L.) in Estonia

In the study we present a checklist of aphyllophoroid fungi growing on Juniperus communis in Estonia with the data of ecology, phenology and distribution. The paper summarizes results of study on 1026 specimens from fungus collections, and authors’ observations. There are 104 species of aphyllophoroid fungi recorded growing on junipers in Estonia, 56 of them have only been found once. The most frequent species can be claimed to be Peniophora junipericola, followed in its frequency by Amylostereum laevigatum, Hyphodontia juniperi, Hyphodontia alutaria, Basidioradulum crustosum and Hyphodontia arguta. Atheloderma mirabile and Sistotrema heteronemum can be considered among rare species, which have only been found once in Estonia (also they are growing on juniper). Two species are listed in threat categories of the Estonian Red List: Oxyporus philadelphi and Lindtneria trachyspora. The former one is also protected by law in Estonia.

Syzygospora lapponica sp. nova (Syzygosporaceae, Heterobasidiomycetes) from Finland

A new Syzygospora species from Finland, S. lapponica is described and illustrated. The hitherto collections derive from Finnish Lapland and the species is apparently a mycoparasite of the rare old-growth forest dwelling polypore Antrodia infirma. The new species deviates from other species in the genus in having cylindrical, slightly bent spores and having a polypore as the host

New national and regional biological records for Finland 2. Contributions to the Finnish aphyllophoroid funga (Basidiomycota)

Athelicium hallenbergii, Tomentella albomarginata, Tomentella cinereoumbrina, Tubulicrinopsis granulose and Tulasnella calospora are reported as new to Finland. New records of Lindtneria chordulata, Phlebia cremeoalutacea, Tomentella coerulea, Tomentella terrestris, Tomentellopsis zygodesmoides, Trechispora araneosa, Trechispora caucasica, Trechispora minima and nine other little collected species are presented and notes of their substrates are given. Many of these records were made in Southwestern Finland, from the forested islands of the Archipelago Sea. In addition we list 33 aphyllophoroid fungi as new to some section of the boreal vegetation zone in Finland

Short-term effects of prescribed burning on wood-rotting fungi.

The prefire fungal flora (polypores and corticoid fungi) of 284 dead trees, mainly fallen trunks of Norway spruce (Picea abies), was studied in 1991 in an old, spruce-dominated mesic forest in southern Finland. Species diversity of the prefire fungal flora was very high, including a high proportion of locally rare species and four threatened polypore species in Finland. In 1992 part of the study area (7.3 ha) was clear-cut and a 1.7 ha forest stand in the center of study area was left standing with a tree volume of 150 m3/ha, and later on (June 1st) in the same year the whole area was burned. Burning was very efficient and all trees in the forest stand were dead one year after the fire. Also the ground layer burned almost completely. In 1993 the fungal flora of the 284 sample trees was studied again. Most of the trees had burned strongly and the fungal species diversity and the evenness in community structure had decreased considerably as compared with the prefire community. Species turnover was also great, especially in corticoid fungi. Greatest losses in the species numbers occurred in moderately and strongly decayed trees, in coniferous trees and in very strongly burned trees. Fungal flora of non-decayed and slightly decayed trees, deciduous trees and slightly burned trees seemed to have survived the fire quite well, and in these groups the species numbers had increased slightly as compared with the prefire community. Fungal species suffering from fire (anthracophobe species) were mainly growing in moderately and strongly decayed trees before the fire, whereas species favoured by fire (anthracophile species) were growing in less decayed trees. No fruitbodies of threatened polypores or other ‘old-forest species’ of polypores were found again after fire. Some very common and effective wood-rotting fungi (e.g. Fomitopsis pinicola, Fomes fomentarius, Antrodia serialis) survived the fire quite well (anthracoxene species). Species favoured by fire were mainly ruderal species which can utilize new, competition-free resources created by fire, and species that have their optima in dry and open places also outside forest-fire areas. Some rarities, e.g. Phanerochaete raduloides and Physisporinus rivulosus, were favoured by fire

Syzygospora lapponica sp. nova (Syzygosporaceae, Heterobasidiomycetes) from Finland

A new Syzygospora species from Finland, S. lapponica is described and illustrated. The hitherto collections derive from Finnish Lapland and the species is apparently a mycoparasite of the rare old-growth forest dwelling polypore Antrodia infirma. The new species deviates from other species in the genus in having cylindrical, slightly bent spores and having a polypore as the host.Peer reviewe

Checklist of aphyllophoroid fungi (Basidiomycota) of the Archipelago Sea National Park, Southwest Finland

Aphyllophorales is an unnatural group of fungi, which are mainly wood decaying saprobes but also mycorrhizal or parasites, and are phylogenetically diverse. In this study we focused on polypores, corticioids and hydnaceous wood decayers with the common feature to form basidiocarps on woody substrates or litter. The checklist is mainly based on material collected during 2008–2010 in the Archipelago Sea National Park and its surrounding area in Southwest Finland. The aim of the study was biogeographical and ecological research of wood-inhabiting aphyllophorales and their habitats. We list 303 species from the study area. It is 40% of all known species (756) of the target groups recorded in Finland. Six species new to Finland were collected during the field work, which are already reported earlier. Our collections include 26 species, which can be defined as rare, with only five or less earlier records in Finland, and 18 species that are red-listed

Studies in Basidiodendron eyrei and similar-looking taxa (Auriculariales, Basidiomycota)

To date, Basidiodendron luteogriseum, the generic type of Basidiodendron (Auriculariales, Basidiomycota) has been treated as a synonym of B. eyrei. Our data show they are not conspecific. The identity of other members of the B. eyrei complex, i.e., B. deminutum and B. grandinioides, is clarified based on morphological and DNA data, and 10 new species are described from Eurasia, as well as from North and South America.peerReviewe

Wood-inhabiting fungal responses to forest naturalness vary among morpho-groups

The general negative impact of forestry on wood-inhabiting fungal diversity is well recognized, yet the effect of forest naturalness is poorly disentangled among different fungal groups inhabiting dead wood of different tree species. We studied the relationship between forest naturalness, log characteristics and diversity of different fungal morpho-groups inhabiting large decaying logs of similar quality in spruce dominated boreal forests. We sampled all non-lichenized fruitbodies from birch, spruce, pine and aspen in 12 semi-natural forest sites of varying level of naturalness. The overall fungal community composition was mostly determined by host tree species. However, when assessing the relevance of the environmental variables separately for each tree species, the most important variable varied, naturalness being the most important explanatory variable for fungi inhabiting pine and aspen. More strikingly, the overall species richness increased as the forest naturalness increased, both at the site and log levels. At the site scale, the pattern was mostly driven by the discoid and pyrenoid morpho-groups inhabiting pine, whereas at the log scale, it was driven by pileate and resupinate morpho-groups inhabiting spruce. Although our study demonstrates that formerly managed protected forests serve as effective conservation areas for most wood-inhabiting fungal groups, it also shows that conservation planning and management should account for group- or host tree -specific responses.Peer reviewe

Morphological traits predict host-tree specialization in wood-inhabiting fungal communities

Tree species is one of the most important determinants of wood-inhabiting fungal community composition, yet its relationship with fungal reproductive and dispersal traits remains poorly understood. We studied fungal communities (total of 657 species) inhabiting broadleaved and coniferous dead wood (total of 192 logs) in 12 semi-natural boreal forests. We utilized a trait-based hierarchical joint species distribution model to examine how the relationship between dead wood quality and species occurrence correlates with reproductive and dispersal morphological traits. Broadleaved trees had higher species richness than conifers, due to discomycetoids and pyrenomycetoids specializing in them. Resupinate and pileate species were generally specialized in coniferous dead wood. Fungi inhabiting broadleaved trees had larger and more elongated spores than fungi in conifers. Spore size was larger and spore shape more spherical in species occupying large dead wood units. These results indicate the selective effect of dead wood quality, visible not only in species diversity, but also in reproductive and dispersal traits. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd and British Mycological Society. All rights reserved.peerReviewe