Abundance and diversity of wood-decay fungi in managed and unmanaged stands in a Scots pine forest in western Poland

- Scots pine deadwood hosts abundant and diverse mycobiota.
- Certain forest practices have small effect on mycobiota in deadwood.
- Large-diameter deadwood (logs) is the most relevant for conservation of fungi.
- Deadwood at later stages of decay supports greatest abundance of fungi.
- Deadwood at earlier stages of decay supports greatest diversity of fungi.

Abundance and diversity of wood-inhabiting fungi were studied in managed (sanitation cutting, commercial thinning and timber harvesting) and unmanaged stands in one 85-year-old Scots pine forest in western Poland. Fungi were detected on coarse woody debris collected in each stand in June 2014: logs, fallen branches, standing dead trees and stumps, in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd classes of decay. Fungi were identified after culturing on synthetic media or as fruit bodies. One taxon of Oomycota and 140 taxa of cultured fungi (19 Zygomycota, 108 Ascomycota and 13 Basidiomycota species) were detected in 34 samples of deadwood. Fruit bodies of three species of Ascomycota and 14 species of Basidiomycota were recorded on 33.8% of coarse woody debris in the managed stand and on 20.6% in the unmanaged stand, with 10 species and 15 species in the respective stands. Abundance of cultured fungi was greater and diversity smaller, both non-significantly, in the managed stand. Eighty-six cultured species (55%) occurred in both stands, while 32 (20%) and 39 (25%) species occurred exclusively in, respectively, the managed and unmanaged stands. Communities in different transects within a stand tended to be more similar than communities in different stands, managed and unmanaged. Logs hosted the greatest number of species. Abundance of cultured fungi increased and diversity decreased in more decayed wood. Known wood-decay species were most abundant in the less decayed wood.