Fungal Communities in the Decay of Wood

Abstract

Nowhere, we believe, can the presence of fungal communities, their structure, dynamics, and diversity, be more explicit and susceptible to direct analysis than in decaying wood. In consequence, wood provides an excellent venue, both for the study of community interactions, and for the development of a conceptual framework within which they can be rationalized. Three outstanding characteristics of wood, as a resource for exploitation by heterotrophs, account for this belief: its bulk, its spatial definition, and its durability.