Basidiome production of ectomycorrhizal and saprophytic agaricoid fungi respond differently to forest management

Abstract

Forest management generates border effects in mature dense forests. How agaricoid fungi species react to this disturbance depends on climatic and site conditions as well as management system and its intensity. We compared abundance and richness of ectomycorrhizal and saprophytic species in managed and unmanaged stands in Nothofagus pumilio forests of Patagonia, Argentina. We found basidiomata abundance and richness of ectomycorrhizal and saprophytic species were favoured by different forest structure and climatic factors. Ectomycorrhizal species basidiomata production was significantly correlated to average relative humidity of the 15 days prior to sampling and number of trees per hectare existing prior to management activities. The latter implies the number of trees that an ecosystem is capable of sustaining is crucial to the establishment of ectomycorrhizal species. Saprophytic species were favoured by the increased amount of woody debris generated by logging together with maximum temperature of the 15 days prior to sampling and annual average precipitations. Our results indicate that agaricoid fungi are not affected by forest management of low to medium intensity, establishing the forestry level that fungal community can tolerate without loss of species in Patagonia.