Black cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh.) colonization by macrofungi in the fourth season of its decline due to different control measures in the Kampinos national Park
The experiment conducted in the Kampinos National Park since 2015 was aimed at assessing the sprouting ability of
black cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh.) in response to different measures of mechanical control and mycobiota colonizing the dying trees. Basal cut-stump, cutting at ca. 1 m above the ground and girdling were performed on 4 terms,
two plots and applied to 25 trees, 600 trees in total. Sprouts were removed every 8 weeks since the initial treatment
for 4 consecutive growing seasons, except winter-treated trees. At the end of the fourth season of control, 515 out of
600 trees were dead (86%): 81% on Lipków and 90% on Sieraków plot. Among 18 experiment variants with sprouts
removal, 17 showed more than 80% of dead trees. The lowest, 76% share, concerned summer cut-stump at the base
of the tree. For winter measures, the share of dead trees was lower in all cases and ranged from 28% to 64% proving
that sprouts removal contributes to the drop of sprouting strength and quicker dying of the trees. Almost 80% of trees
showed sporocarps that represented 51 taxa of macrofungi in total, including 6 Ascomycota and 45 Basidiomycota.
The group of six most frequently encountered fungi includes: Hyphoderma setigerum, Bjerkandera adusta, Peniophora cinerea, Armillaria ostoyae, Nectria cinnabarina, Stereum hirsutum. Both plots had similar share of black
cherry individuals with sporocarps of macrofungi, that is, 81% and 78% for Sieraków and Lipków respectively. The
share of colonized trees and the number of reported macrofungal taxa increased significantly compared to the year
following the treatment. In addition, the composition of macrofungi changed with the progressing dying of trees.
These results broaden the knowledge about macroscopic fungi colonising and living on black cherry within its secondary range of distribution. Moreover, one macrofungus and two microfungi new for KNP are reported